tihvaxy  of  t:he  t:heological  ^tmimvy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


Fran  the 
Library  of 

the 
Seminary's 
Society  of  Inquiry 


BV    3700    .86    1856 
Smith,    Lucius    E.    1822-1900, 
Heroes   and  martyrs   of   the 
modern  missionary 


Sec   n 


s,\&r 


-^ 

^ 


ilEROES  AND  MARTYRS 


MODEM   MISSIOMEY  EITEEPRISE 


A   RECORD   OF   THEIR   LIVES  AND   LABORS. 


INCLUDING 


AX  HISTORICAL  REVIEW  OF  EARLIER  MISSIONS. 


EDITED    BT^ 

LUCIUS    E.'^MITH. 


WITH 

AN    INTRODUCTION, 

BY    EEV.    WILLIAM    B.    SPEAGUE,    D.  D. 

'HERUES  OF   A   CHRISTIAN   AGf]— COMPANIONS  OF   A  CELESTIAL  KMGHTHOOP ' 


PROVIDENCE,    R.   I.; 
PUBLISHED    BY    0.    W.    POTTER, 

56  WESTMINSTER  STREET. 
1858. 

Sold  only  by  Suhscrqil/on. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  t\w  year  18at», 

Br  0.  W.  POTTEK, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  in  the  District  Court  of  Rhode  Island. 


ronNDRY    or 

BILAS    ANDRUS    AND    SON, 
HARTFORD. 

W.  C.  Armstrong,  TypograpoM-. 


THE  LIVING  MESSENGERS  OF  CHRIST 

IN     FOUEIGN     LANDS, 

AND 

TO     THOSE    WHO     SYMPATHIZE    WITH     THEM 
IN     THEIR     TOILS     AND     SACRIFICES, 

Tills  YOLUME, 

A  BRIEF  RECORD  OF  THE  EMINENT  DEAL>. 

WHO     HAVE     YIELDED     UP     THEIR     LIVES, 
A    SACRED    HOLOCAUST    TO    THE    CAUSE    OF    CHRISTIAN    MISSIONS 

RESPECTFULLY     DEDICATED. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

DEDICATION 3 

PKEFACE  7 

INTRODUCTION 11 

A  VIEW  OF  EARLIER  MISSIONARY  ENTERPRISES 25 

"WILLIAM  CAREY 59 

JOHN  CHAMBERLAIN  85 

HENRY  MARTYN i03 

GORDON  HALL 121 

SAMUEL  NEWELL 145 

HENRY  WATSON  FOX 155 

THOMAS  COKE 173 

xV  ADONIRAM  JUDSON 193 

GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN 219 

ROBERT  MORRISON 243 

Vv'ILLIAM  MILNE 263 

V  WALTER  MACON  LOWRIE       .      .  2bl 

'  DAVID  ABEEL        .  301 

MUNSON  AND  LYMAN        .      .  313 

JOHANNES  THEODORUS  VANDERKEMP 321 

AVILLIAM  G.  CROCKER 335 

LOTT  CARY 355 

MELVILLE  BEVERIDGE  COX "•      363 

PLINY  FISK -,      .      .      .    3/3 


6  CONTEXTS. 

PAGE 

LEVI  PARSONS 385 

ASAHEL  GRANT,  M.  D 395 

JOHN  WILLIAMS 407 

WILLIAM  RICHARDS 437 

ARD  HOYT 451 

CYRUS  SHEPARD 459 

WILLIAM  HEPBURN  IlEWITSON 471 

GROVER  SMITH  COMSTOCK 483 

JAMES  RICHARDS 503 


PREFACE. 


The  enterprise  of  missions  has  been  a  prolific  source  of  bio- 
graphical literature,  of  surpassing  interest  and  value.  But  the 
multiplication  of  works  in  this  department  of  reading,  puts  it  out 
of  the  power  of  very  many  to  possess  all  even  of  the  most  merit- 
orious. It  was  suggested  that  a  group  in  miniature  of  some 
whose  devotion  to  missionary  service  hallows  their  memory  in  the 
churches,  would  find  acceptance  with  a  large  circle  of  readers. 
The  present  work  aims  to  supply  the  supposed  demand.  It  does 
not  profess  to  be  complete.  Undoubtedly  there  are  names  omitted 
that  as  well  deserve  a  place  in  a  catalogue  of  missionary  worthies, 
as  some  that  are  here  inserted,  but  the  editor  has  not  been  able  in 
all  cases  to  secure  the  necessary  materials;  and  he  is  conscious 
that,  in  respect  to  some  whose  lives  were  attempted,  this  deficiency 
has  greatly  impaired  the  interest  that  properly  belongs  to  their 
character  and  memory.  As  the  plan  contemplated  only  persons 
actually  engaged  in  missionary  service,  some  who  are  highly  hon- 
oured for  their  eminent  usefulness  in  the  cause  were  passed  over. 
Men  like  Claudius  Buchanan,  Samuel  J.  Mills,  and  Luther  Eice, 
were  reluctantly  postponed  to  others. 

To  some  minds  there  may  be  suggested  the  contrary  objection, 
that  characters  are  included  whose  lives  were  not  sufficiently  event- 
ful or  important  to  find  a  place  here,  or  to  answer  the  expectations 
raised  by  the  title.  But  true  heroism  in  a  Christian  sense,  which 
it  is  our  faith  will  one  day  become  the  common  sense  of  mankind, 
may  be  claimed  for  men  whom  the  world  does  not  now  delight  to 
honour.  "I  take  goodness  in  this  sense,"  says  Bacon,  "the  effect- 
ino-  of  the  weal  of  men,  which  is  that  the  Grecians  call  Philanthro- 


8  PREFACE. 

peia.  .  .  .  This,  of  all  virtues  and  dignities  of  the  mind,  is  the  great- 
est, being  the  character  of  the  Deity."  It  seemed  desirable,  more- 
over, to  make  such  a  selection  as  should  exhibit  different  phases  of 
missionary  life,  at  different  stages  of  progress  and  among  diverse 
forms  of  heathenism. 

It  will  be  seen  that  originality  is  out  of  the  question.  A  com- 
pilation, generally  from  the  most  common  and  accessible  sources, 
Avas  all  that  could  be  attempted  in  most  cases.  The  editor  has  not 
confined  himself,  however,  to  the  track  of  published  biography, 
and  he  has  been  able  to  obtain  some  original  materials  of  value  to 
enrich  the  volume.  Except  where  the  facts  stated  are  novel,  or 
there  is  a  conflict  of  testimony,  no  citation  of  authorities  has  com- 
monly been  thought  necessary.  The  sketches  of  Martyn,  Fox, 
Boardman,  Abeel,  Lowrie,  and  some  others,  are  little  more  than 
abridgments  of  the  biographies  in  common  circulation,  but  as  far 
as  possible  new  information  has  been  sought  to  illustrate  the  subject. 

A  history  of  missions  has  not  been  attempted.  Except  in  the 
preliminary  view  of  earlier  missions,  such  historical  statements  only 
have  been  made  as  were  requisite  to  the  completeness  of  the  per- 
sonal narrative.  The  editor  has  souQ;ht  neither  to  conceal  nor  to 
obtrude  his  own  opinions  on  events  as  they  passed  in  review,  but 
in  matters  of  difference  between  evangelical  Christians,  has  studied 
to  preserve  entire  impartiality. 

The  extent  of  the  work  made  it  impossible  for  one  hand  to  exe- 
cute it  within  a  reasonable  time,  and  a  few  of  the  sketches  were 
contributed  by  other  pens.  To  the  gentlemen  who  have  thus 
enriched  the  series,  the  editor  and  his  readers  are  under  great  obli- 
gation. Encouragement  and  "material  aid,"  have  also  been  liber- 
ally given  by  several  gentlemen,  particularly  by  the  Secretaries  of 
the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union,  Eev.  Dr.  Anderson,  of 
the  American  Board,  and  Eev.  Dr.  Sprague,  to  whom  grateful 
acknowledgments  are  due. 

A  word  on  the  orthography  of  oriental  names.  Should  this  vol- 
ume fall  into  the  hands  of  any  who  are  versed  in  the  languages  of 


PREFACE.  9 

Asia,  they  may  be  offended  at  a  want  of  critical  accuracy.  But  as 
it  is  written  for  English,  and  not  for  Chinese  or  Hindoo  readers,  it 
has  not  seemed  worth  while  to  sacrifice  intelligibility  to  critical 
nicety.  It  may  be  respectfully  suggested,  that  missionaries  have 
sometimes  been  more  nice  than  wise  in  this  matter.  Every  body 
has  heard  of  Juggernaut,  but  that  monster  has  for  some  time  gone 
incog.^  under  the  alias  of  Jaganatli,  Readers  of  Indian  history 
familiar  Avith  the  Mahrattas,  might  fail  to  recognise  that  people 
under  the  name  of  Marathis.  It  has  even  been  discovered  that  the 
Mohammedans  of  India  have  discarded  the  Koran  in  favour  of  a 
book  known  as  the  Quran.  In  the  present  work,  no  system  has 
been  aimed  at,  but  the  spelling  that  was  believed  to  be  most  famil- 
iar has  been  unhesitatingly  adopted. 

The  work  is  submitted  to  the  Christian  public,  with  the  prayer 
that  it  may  do  something  to  increase  the  missionary  spirit,  and  so 
to  aid,  however  feebly,  in  advancing  one  of  the  noblest  of  human 
enterprises. 

L.  E.  a 

Boston,  January,  1852. 


PKXHOSTOH 


INTRODUCTION. 

BY   REV.    WILLIAM   B.    SPRAGUE,   D.D, 


The  chief  end  of  Biography  is  to  embalm  virtue  and  perpetuate  useful- 
ness. It  is  proper  indeed  that  there  should  sometimes  be  an  enduring 
record  of  the  lives  of  bad  men ;  for  the  world  needs  warnings  as  well  as 
examples ;  but  no  doubt,  in  ordinary  cases,  it  is  safest  and  best  to  let  the 
memory  of  the  wicked  perish.  But  where  an  individual  has  lived  a  life  of 
eminent  virtue  and  honourable  usefulness,  where  his  career  has  been 
marked  by  great  self-denial  and  unwearied  effort  for  the  benefit  of  his 
fellow. creatures,  and  he  has  been  hailed,  while  living,  as  a  great  public 
benefactor,  it  is  peculiarly  fitting  that  the  memory  of  such  a  man  should 
not  be  suffered  quickly  to  pass  away ;  and  Biography  performs  an  ofiice 
due  alike  to  the  living  and  the  dead,  in  protracting  his  earthly  existence 
after  death  has  done  all  that  it  can  do  to  terminate  it.  It  is  true,  indeed, 
that  a  good  man  is  represented  on  earth,  after  his  departure,  by  a  thousand 
nameless  influences,  even  though  his  very  name  may  be  forgotten ;  but  he 
survives  in  a  still  higher  and  more  palpable  sense,  where  gratitude  and 
reverence  unite  with  truth  in  tracing  his  course  and  delineating  his  charac- 
ter. It  is  by  means  of  Biography  especially,  that  we  live  among  the  people 
of  by-gone  ages ;  that  we  gather  around  us  the  great  and  good  of  other 
countries  and  other  states  of  society ;  that  we  open  our  minds  and  hearts 
to  the  dictates  of  wisdom  from  voices  that  have  long  since  been  hushed  in 
death;  in  a  word,  that  we  make  the  past  subservient  to  the  present,  and 
receive  into  our  own  bosoms,  the  seeds  of  virtue  and  happiness  from  hands 
that  had  mouldered  long  before  we  had  a  being. 

While  the  biography  of  all  who  have  been  distinguished  for  intellectual 
and  moral  worth  and  for  a  high  degree  of  Christian  usefulness,  is  worthy  to 
be  read  and  studied  as  a  source  of  enduring  profit — if  I  mistake  not,  there 


12  IXTKOl/UCTIOX. 

is  on  some  accounts,  a  peculiar  inipoitance  attached  to  tlie  memoirs  of 
those  who  have  lived  and  died  missionaries  of  the  cross.  The  peculiar 
relations  which  they  have  sustained  both  to  the  church  and  to  the  world, 
the  prominence  which  they  have  enjoyed,  and  the  interest  which  they  have 
awakened  during  their  lives,  together  with  the  debt  of  gratitude  which  the 
church  recognises  ns  due  to  their  memories,  all  conspire  to  invest,  at  least 
to  the  eye  of  the  Christian,  the  faithful  record  of  what  they  have  been  and 
what  they  have  done,  with  more  than  ordinary  attractions.  As  I  have  been 
asked  to  write  a  hw  pages  introductory  to  a  work  designed  to  commemorate 
some  of  the  greater  lights,  now  extinguished  by  death,  in  the  missionary 
field,  I  know  not  how  I  can  comply  with  the  request  to  better  purpose,  than 
by  offering  a  few  thoughts  on  the  subject  that  most  obviously  presents  itself, 
namely,  Missionary  Biography.  What  then  are  some  of  the  considera- 
tions which  especially  commend  to  our  regard,  this  department  of  our 
Christian  literature? 

IT    OPENS       SOURCES    OF    USEFUL    KNOWLFDGE. 

One  of  the  most  gratifying  as  well  as  useful  kinds  of  knowledge,  is  that 
of  the  manners,  the  usages,  the  institutions,  that  prevail  in  other  countries. 
We  are  curious  to  know  how  the  descendants  of  the  same  progenitor,  the 
heirs  of  the  same  nature  with  ourselves,  but  who  are  separated  from  us  by 
perhaps  many  thousand  miles,  and  possibly  have  their  home  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  globe — we  are  curious  to  know  how  they  live — how  far  their 
views  and  tastes  and  habits  differ  from  our  own — what  influences  have 
moulded  their  characters,  and  what  counter  influences  are  needed  for  their 
improvement  and  elevation.  The  deep-seated  and  general  desire  for  this 
species  of  knowledge,  is  the  reason  why  books  of  travels  in  foreign  coun- 
tries are  generally  read  with  so  much  avidity;  and  though  there  may  be 
good  cause  for  suspecting  that  many  of  their  statements  are  apocryphal — 
even  this  scarcely  diminishes  the  number  of  eager  and  delighted  readers. 
Now  we  should  naturally  expect  that  the  most  authentic  and  satisfactory 
accounts,  especially  of  the  Pagan  and  barbarous  nations,  would  be  furnished 
1)V  missionaries;  partly  because  their  high  characters  are  a  full  voucher 
for  the  fidelity  of  their  statements,  and  partly  because  their  observations  are 
the  result  not  of  a  transient  sojourn,  but  of  a  permanent  residence  among 
the  people.     Accordingly  we  find,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  for  a  large  part 


INT  ROD  UCT  I  ox.  13 

of  all  that  we  know  concerning  not  only  the  moral  and  civil  conditinn,  Ir.it 
even  the  Geography  and  Natural  History  of  most  of  the  Eastern  nations, 
we  arc  indebted  immediately  to  those  excellent  men  who  have  taken  up  their 
abode  among  them  in  the  character  of  missionaries.  There  is  scarcely  a 
department  of  human  knowledge  to  which  these  benefactors  of  their  race 
iiave  not  contributed;  and  many  an  elaborate  volume,  as  well  as  nianv  a 
nmseum  of  natural  science,  testifies  that  while  they  have  been  diligently 
engaged  in  their  appropriate  work,  they  have  not  been  indifferent  to  other 
subjects  connected  with  the  general  improvement  of  society. 

Now,  in  reading  the  lives  of  those  who  have  thus  had  their  field  of  labour 
in  distant  countries,  and  not  unfrcquently  among  strange  and  barbarous  * 
people,  we  seem  almost  to  become  the  witnesses, — even  the  sharers  of  their 
labours,  to  see  what  they  see  and  hear  what  they  hear;  and  we  hereby 
gain  a  much  more  vivid  impression  of  the  actual  condition  of  the  people 
among  whom  they  have  dwelt,  than  we  could  receive  through  any  other 
medium.  Various  little  incidents  are  constantly  coming  out,  which,  while 
they  give  distinctness  and  life  and  individuality  to  the  narrative,  form  the 
best  illustration  of  personal  qualities  and  social  habits.  This  remark  applies 
perhaps  with  greater  force  to  the  journals  of  our  missionaries,  than  to  the 
formal  biographies  of  them  which  are  written  by  other  hands;  nevertheless, 
such  biographies,  if  they  are  skilfully  constructed,  are  always  a  channel  of 
much  important  general  information.  And  while  they  gratify  our  curiosity 
on  some  points,  they  awaken  it  on  others,  and  thus  at  once  reward  and 
cherish  the  spirit  of  useful  research. 

It  seems  to  be  generally  supposed  that  this  kind  of  reading  is  designed, 
if  not  exclusively,  yet  chiefly,  for  the  benefit  of  the  church;  but  the  truth 
is,  it  is  by  no  means  either  unworthy  of,  or  unfitting  to,  a  philosopher;  for 
it  supplies  materials  which  philosophy  may  turn  to  the  best  account  in  set- 
tling many  great  questions  pertaining  to  human  life  and  destiny.  In  order 
to  form  the  most  enlarged  and  accurate  judgment  of  the  principles  of  human 
nature  we  must  contemplate  man,  so  far  as  we  can,  in  connection  with  all 
the  multiform  circumstances  in  which  he  is  ever  placed;  and  we  must  note 
the  developments  of  the  common  humanity  under  all  these  varied  influences; 
and  then,  in  the  true  spirit  of  induction,  we  must  found  our  principles,  or 
rear  our  systems,  on  the  substantial  basis  of  facts.  If  Philosophy  deals 
hoiifstlv  with  the  facts  thus  accumu!at."(l.  she  vail  be  obliged  to  acknowledge 


14  INTRODUCTION, 

that  the  result  is  in  full  accordance  with  the  teachings  of  God's  word  ;  and 
that  sl)e  has  really,  while  pursuing  her  own  independent  inquiries  been  act- 
ing as  an  humble  auxiliary  to  Christianity. 

The  study  of  missionary  biography  is  further  recommended  by  the  con- 
sideration that 

IT  IS  A  MEANS  OF  CHRISTIAN  GROWTH. 

As  man's  nature  is  essentially  social,  so  it  is  especially  in  the  exercise 
of  his  social  qualities,  that  his  character  is  formed  either  for  good  or  evil. 
The  bad  man  makes  himself  worse  by  associating  with  those  whose  habits 
and  tempers  are  kindred  to  his  own;  and  the  good  man  becomes  better 
through  the  influence  of  other  good  men,  whose  example  he  is  permitted, 
either  directly  or  indirectly,  to  contemplate.  Let  a  man  of  acknowledged 
Ciiristian  character  be  separated  from  all  Christian  society,  and  cut  off  even 
from  the  opportunity  of  contemplating  the  lives  of  the  faithful,  except  as 
they  come  up  before  him  occasionally  in  vague  recollection,  and  it  will  be 
strange  indeed  if  the  vigour  of  his  good  affections  does  not  quickly  abate, — 
if  he  does  not  begin  to  feel  and  to  show  that  something  has  occurred  to 
interfere  sadly  with  the  actings  of  the  divine  life.  But  let  this  same  indi- 
vidual be  constantly  kept  in  the  bosom  of  Christian  society;  let  him  bs 
habitually  within  the  range  of  religious  privileges  and  the  atmosphere  of 
social  devotion ;  let  him  be  within  reach  of  the  word  of  faithful  rebuke  if 
he  goes  astray,  or  of  cheering  encouragement  if  he  begins  to  despond ;  let 
him  see  the  excellence  of  the  gospel  continually  mirrored  forth  in  the 
exemplary  lives  of  those  who  walk  most  closely  with  God ; — and  there  is 
good  reason  to  expect  that  his  own  course  will  be  as  the  shining  light,  grow- 
ing  brighter  unto  the  perfect  day.  The  qualities  which  he  contemplates 
in  others  with  an  approving  and  admiring  eye,  impart  new  vigour  to  the 
same  qualities  already  existing  in  his  own  character;  the  words  of  truth 
and  grace  which  he  hears  from  others  are  lodged  as  seeds  of  holiness  in 
his  own  soul;  tlie  self-denying  duties  which  he  sees  others  perform,  grow 
easier  to  himself— from  the  encouragement  which  their  example  inspires; 
and  his  progress  towards  Heaven  is  greatly  quickened,  and  his  evidence 
of  a  title  to  Heaven  proportionably  brightened,  from  his  being  surrounded 
by  those  who  are  animated  by  a  kindred  spirit  and  a  like  glorious  hope. 

Now    what  is  true  of  example  as  visibly  and   palpably  exhibited  in   a 


INTRODUCTION.  15 

Christian's  daily  walk,  is  true  of  it  at  least  in  a  degree,  when  it  comes  to  us 
enshrined  in  faithful  biography.  If  the  latter  is  somewhat  less  impressive 
than  the  former,  still,  by  being  always  within  our  reach,  we  may  contem- 
plate it  at  our  pleasure;  we  may  study  it  in  the  house  and  by  the  way; 
and  if  our  impressions  of  it  become  faint,  we  have  always  at  hand  the  means 
of  reviving  them.  And  the  more  elevated  the  character  which  engages 
our  thoughts,  whether  through  the  record  or  in  actual  life, — admitting  that 
we  open  our  minds  and  hearts  to  its  legitimate  influence, — the  higher  is  our 
advantage  for  increasing  in  knowledge,  purity  and  joy. 

It  will  hardly  be  questioned  by  any  person  of  common  candour  that  the 
great  mass  of  Protestant  missionaries  in  modern  times  have  been  persons  of 
more  than  common  attainments  in  the  Christian  life.  There  is  one  consid- 
eration that  would  seem  to  settle  this  point  beyond  doubt — it  is,  that  in  making 
up  their  minds  to  become  missionaries,  they  give  the  highest  possible  evi- 
dence of  their  sincerity  and  earnest  devotion  to  the  cause  of  Christ.  They 
voluntarily  consent  to  resign  all  the  advantages  of  Christian,  perhaps,  of 
civilized  society,  and  to  break  away  from  their  dearest  earthly  friends,  and 
to  spend  their  lives,  perhaps  beneath  the  rays  of  a  vertical  sun, — perhaps 
amidst  the  most  disgusting  and  horrid  rites  of  Pagan  idolatry, — perhaps 
among  barbarians  who  would  not  scruple  even  to  take  the  lives  of  those  who 
would  be  their  benefactors — and  for  what?  Why,  to  enlighten  and  renovate 
and  save  the  souls  of  men;  to  obey  the  ascending  Saviours  command  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature.  It  must  be  acknowledged  that  a  spirit 
of  self-righteousness,  or  of  mock  heroism,  may  work  itself  up  to  an  astonish- 
ing pitch  of  self-denial,  and  for  aught  we  can  say,  may  even  court  not  only 
a  missionary's,  but  a  martyr's  sacrifices ;  but  still  it  remains  true  that  he  who 
spends  his  life  and  makes  his  grave,  as  a  missionary  among  the  heathen, 
gives  the  highest  evidence  that  we  can  ordinarily  look  for,  not  only  of  sin- 
cerity,  but  of  an  exalted  type  of  Christian  character.  And  what  would 
seem  to  be  implied  in  the  very  fact  of  voluntary  consecration  to  the  missipn- 
ary  work,  is  only  what  we  see  more  fully  evidenced  to  us  in  the  subsequent 
lives  of  those  who  are  thus  devoted.  By  the  manner  in  which  they  endure 
trials,  resist  temptations,  overcome  obstacles,  and  hold  on  their  hard  and 
humble,  yet  glorious  way,  they  show  that  they  never  lose  sight  of  eternal 
objects  and  interests,  and  never  wander  far  away  from  the  fountain  of  grace 
and  strength.     In  reading  the  biography  of  such  men,  therefore,  we  put  our 


16  INTRODUCTION. 

selves  into  conimunion  with  men  of  niiglit  and  men  of  mark  ;  and  as  we 
contemplate  their  extraordinary  purity  and  energy  and  zeal,  we  may  hope 
to  be  changed  more  and  more  into  their  image,  wliich  is  but  a  reproduction, 
— faint  and  feeble  indeed, — of  the  image  of  the  Master. 

It  belongs  also  to  this  species  of  biography  that  it  illustrates  in  an  en;!i- 
nent  degree  the  power  of  divine  truth.  The  conversion  of  a  sinner  i.s 
substantially  the  same  thing  under  every  variety  of  circumstances :  it  is  a 
change  in  the  current  of  the  soul's  desires  and  affections  ;  it  is  the  displacing 
of  the  world  and  the  substitution  of  God,  as  an  object  of  supreme  regard 
and  ultimate  pursuit;  it  is,  in  a  word,  becoming  a  new  creature  in  Christ 
Jesus.  The  same  almighty  energy  is  necessary  to  accomplish  this  change 
in  the  mere  decent  moralist,  or  the  mere  speculative  believer,  as  in  the 
degraded  votary  of  superstition,  immorality  or  infidelity.  Nevertheless  our 
idea  of  the  power  of  the  gospel  is  necessarily  heightened  by  the  visible 
measure  of  degradation  from  which  its  subject  has  been  raised  ;  and  hence 
our  conceptions  of  it  never  rise  higher  than  when  we  view  it  in  its  actings 
upon  the  ignorance  and  pollutions  of  Paganism.  Now  those  who  are  gath- 
ered as  the  fruits  of  missionary  labour  are  generally  of  the  class  whose 
conversion  most  strikingly  illustrates  the  power  and  grace  of  God;  and  in 
reading  the  memoirs  of  the  missionaries,  we  have  constantly  presented 
before  us,  in  the  progress  of  their  labours,  evidence  of  the  quickening  influ- 
ence of  God's  word,  that  comes  with  the  force  of  complete  demonstration. 
And  as  the  Christian  has  the  wonderful  works  of  God  thus  passing  before 
him — as  he  witnesses  the  conquests  which  the  gospel  accomplishes  even  in 
the  strongholds  of  the  Prince  of  darkness — this  gospel  becomes  more  and 
more  the  object  of  his  devout  veneration  ;  he  is  grateful  for  the  faith  wliich 
he  has  in  it,  and  humble  that  his  faith  is  not  stronger;  he  presses  it  to  his 
heart  with  a  still  deeper  conviction  that  it  is  a  thing  of  life  and  power;  and 
he  breathes  forth  a  yet  more  earnest  prayer  to  Heaven  that,  under  its  trans- 
farming  influence,  he  may  become  a  nobler  and  more  perfect  specimen  of 
God's  renovating  workmanship.  Wiio  can  read  tiie  history  of  the  life  of 
Swartz,  or  Henry  Martyn,  or  John  Williams,  or  of  almost  any  of  our  modern 
missionaries,  and  note  the  signal  triumphs  of  truth  and  grace  which  are 
here  exhibited,  without  being  quickened  to  a  higher  sense  of  the  value  of 
of  the  gospel,  or  without  resolving  on  an  increased  degree  of  conformity  to 
its  precepts,  and  aspiring  to  a  deeper  sympathy  with  its  spirit. 


INTRODUCTION".  17 

There  is  yet  another  aspect  in  which  we  may  consider  ihc  biographies 
of  the  missionaries  as  adapted  to  invigorate  the  principle  of  spiritual  life, — I 
refer  to  the  many  signal  instances  of  the  merciful  interposition  of  Providence 
which  they  record.  These  men  and  women,  in  devoting  themselves  to  the 
missionary  work,  made  up  their  minds  to  a  life  of  difficulty  and  peril. 
They  knew  that  they  were  going  among  people  who  had  scarcely  any  sym- 
pathies  in  common  with  themselves;  that  they  would  be  looked  upon  with 
an  eye  of  cold  suspicion,  as  being  innovators  upon  the  religious  systems 
which  had  been  in  vogue  for  ages;  and  they  could  not  be  certain  that  even 
their  lives  would  not  become  the  prey  of  Pagan  barbarity.  And  though 
their  general  previous  apprehensions  may  have  been  fully  realized,  and 
though  they  may  have  had  to  encounter  many  difficulties  which  had  never 
entered  into  their  calculations,  yet  have  they  been  the  objects,  in  a  marked 
degree,  of  God's  providential  care  and  goodness.  Obstacles  which  at  first 
seemed  insurmountable  have  been  most  unexpectedly  and  marvellously 
removed.  Dangers  which  appeared  inevitable  and  appalling  have  been 
averted  by  some  instrumentality  so  marked  as  well  nigh  to  bear  the  aspect 
of  a  miracle.  Doubts  in  regard  to  the  course  of  duty  which  have  weighed 
heavily  and  for  a  long  time  upon  the  spirit,  have,  at  length,  by  some  sudden 
turn  of  circumstances  been  dissipated  in  an  hour.  Bright  prospects  have 
been  suddenly  overcast;  sanguine  hopes  of  good  have  been  overtaken  with 
disappointment,  the  most  useful  lives  have  been,  as  human  wisdom  would  say, 
prematurely  terminated  ;  and  yet  subsequent  events  have  shown  that  in  all 
these  apparently  adverse  dispensations,  an  unseen  hand  has  been  not  only 
sustaining,  but  advancing  the  missionary  cause.  Those  whose  memories 
reach  back  to  the  earliest  period  of  American  foreign  missions,  will  readily 
call  to  mind  the  deep  lamentation  that  was  heard  among  the  churches,  on 
occasion  of  the  death  of  Harriet  Newell ;  and  yet  it  has  long  since  ceased 
to  be  a  matter  of  doubt  that  that  devoted  woman  accomplished  more  by  her 
early  death  than  she  would  have  done  by  a  long  life  of  missionary  labour. 
She  was  the  first  American  lady  who  set  an  example  of  going  among  the 
heathen  to  die;  and  there  is  that  in  her  very  name  which,  to  this  day, 
quickens  the  pulsations  of  the  heart  of  Christian  benevolence  all  over  the 
world.  Her  grave  was  no  sooner  made  than  it  sent  forth  a  voice  of  tender 
expostulation  in  behalf  of  the  poor  Heathen;  and  that  voice  has  not  ye 
died  away,  even  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  forty  years. 
2 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  a  trite  remark  that  those  who  will  notice  providences  will  never 
want  providences  to  notice.  The  missionaries,  not  only  from  the  earnest 
character  of  their  piety,  but  from  the  trying  circumstances  in  which  they 
are  placed,  are  always  looking  out  for  the  divine  interpositions:  they  recog- 
nise the  divine  hand  in  events  in  which  others  would  not  look  beyond  the 
common  course  of  nature;  and  what  they  thus  notice  and  record,  ultimately 
becomes  a  part  of  the  history  of  their  lives.  Hence  we  find  that  the  recog- 
nition  of  Providence  in  every  thing, — in  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good, — in 
the  clouds  as  well  as  the  sunshine, — together  with  the  connecting  of  events 
with  each  other  in  vindication  of  the  divine  goodness,  forms  a  striking  char- 
acteristic of  the  memoirs  of  almost  all  our  missionaries.  And  the  spirit 
which  their  publications  breathe,  is  the  very  spirit  in  which  the  mass  of 
Christians  are  more  lacking  than  almost  any  other.  While  they  profess  to 
acknowledge  God's  providence,  yet  in  their  thoughts  and  feelings  and  works, 
they  too  often  deny  it.  These  publications  then  meet  an  important  exigency 
in  the  experience  of  most  Christians.  They  are  fitted  to  make  them  think 
more  of  God  in  the  ordinary  concerns  of  life;  to  suppress  the  spirit  of  dis- 
content  and  disquietude  under  the  divine  allotments;  and  to  render  the  idea 
of  the  divine  presence  at  once  a  security  against  temptation,  an  aid  in  the 
discharge  of  duty,  and  a  support  under  the  burden  of  calamity. 

The  conclusion  on  this  subject  to  which  we  should  arrive  from  a  view  of 
the  circumstances  of  the  case,  is,  if  I  mistake  not,  fully  confirmed  by 
results,  so  far  as  they  have  already  been  obtained.  If  we  look  for  the 
brightest  forms  of  Christian  character,  for  the  most  enlarged  spirit  of  ben- 
evolence, the  most  active  and  self-denying  zeal  in  the  ordinary  walks  of 
Christian  life,  our  eye  will  unquestionably  rest  upon  those  who  have  the 
deepest  interest  in  the  cause  of  missions; — those  who  are  most  familiar  witli 
the  labours  and  trials  of  our  departed  missionaries,  as  presented  by  them- 
selves and  their  biographers.  And  it  is  no  doubt  in  no  inconsiderable 
degree,  by  the  contemplation  and  study  of  these  interesting  records,  that 
ihese  earnest  Christians,  who  constitute  tlie  strength  and  glory  of  the  church, 
have  attained  to  their  high  measure  of  spirituality.  Let  the  lives  of  our 
missionaries  then  be  studied  as  a  means  of  brightening  the  Christian  graces, 
tind  growing  in  Christian  usefulness.  But  there  is  yet  another  reason  for 
studying  them :  it  is  that  they  are  fitted  to  act  as 


INTRODUCTION.  1.9 

A    STIMULUS    TO    MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISE. 

They  appeal  to  our  sympathy  in  aid  of  the  cause  of  missions  by  the 
suferings  which  they  record.  Though  we  rarely  find  our  missionaries 
giving  way  to  a  spirit  of  complaint  or  despondency,  but  on  the  other  hand, 
often  see  in  them  the  finest  examples  of  Christian  heroism,  yet  their  history, 
after  all,  is  little  more  than  a  history  of  successive  trials  and  conflicts;  and 
the  account  which  that  illustrious  missionary,  Paul,  gave  of  his  perils  and 
cares  and  sufferings,  might,  in  its  general  features  at  least,  be  considered  as 
a  tolerably  faithful  record  of  many  a  modern  missionary's  experience. 
Even  those  whose  lot  is  the  least  difficult,  are  exiled  from  most  of  the  bless- 
ings which  we  think  of  first  in  estimating  our  own  happy  condition;  and 
withal  are  subjected  to  many  positive  hardships  and  sacrifices,  of  which  we 
have  at  best  a  very  inadequate  conception.  But  there  are  many  whose  lot 
is  distinguished  for  severity  even  amidst  sufferers;  who,  while  their  tem- 
poral wants  are  but  sparingly  supplied,  are  exposed  to  become  the  victims 
of  Pagan  suspicion — perhaps  of  cannibal  barbarity.  There  are  a  large 
number  of  females  connected  with  the  various  missions; — females,  too,  who, 
in  their  earlier  days,  have  known  the  comforts  of  a  quiet  and  respectable 
home,  and  have  been  brought  up  in  the  bosom  of  competence,  if  not  of 
affluence.  What  a  change  must  it  be  for  ihem,  to  reflect  that  their  once 
happy  home  is  in  another  land,  and  that  nothing  meets  their  eye  but  what 
tells  of  the  degradation,  the  pollution,  the  cruelty,  of  Paganism !  We 
receive  intelligence  of  the  trials  of  our  missionaries  from  time  to  time, 
tlirough  the  medium  of  their  journals  and  other  communications;  and  after 
their  Master  has  called  them  home,  the  story  of  their  sacrifices  and  suffer- 
ings is  perhaps  put  forth  in  a  more  enduring  form,  that  thus  they  may 
continue  to  make  their  appeal  to  the  churches  after  they  are  dead. 

Now  what  is  the  eff^^ct  which  these  sad  details  which  form  so  large  a 
part  of  the  memoirs  of  our  departed  missionaries  are  fitted  to  produce  on 
those  who  love  the  missionary  cause?  The  first  effect  will  be  to  quicken 
the  spirit  of  Christian  sympathy.  Those  who  have  departed  have  indeed 
done  with  suffering,  and  have  entered  into  rest;  but  others  remain  labouring 
in  the  same  field,  bearing  the  same  burdens,  exposed  to  the  same  perils ; 
and  why  should  not  our  sympathy  for  them  be  as  active  as  it  ougiit  to  have 
been  for  those  who  are  now  no  longer  subjects  of  it?     If  it  belongs  to  the 


20  INTKODUCTION. 

Christian  spirit  to  exercise  a  fellow-feeling  towards  all  who  are  in  distress, 
is  it  not  especially  obligatory  upon  us  to  extend  our  sympathy  to  tliose  who 
are  doing  a  work  of  common  interest  to  them  and  to  us — a  work  in  which 
they  have  benevolently  volunteered  to  become  the  immediate  agents?  And 
if  our  sympathy  be  awakened  in  their  behalf,  it  will  lead  us  to  pray  for 
them  with  greater  constancy  and  fervour:  when  our  hearts  melt  within  us 
in  view  of  what  we  know  of  their  sufferings  and  trials,  we  shall  pleail 
more  earnestly  with  the  Father  of  all  mercies  to  be  a  wall  of  fire  round 
about  them,  to  impart  to  them  richly  of  the  supports  of  his  grace;  and  to 
give  them,  in  the  increased  success  of  their  labours,  fresh  tokens  of  his 
approbation.  And  if  our  sympathy  prompts  us  to  pray  for  them  in  sincerity, 
it  will  prompt  us  no  less  to  act  in  accordance  with  our  prayers;  in  other 
words,  to  contribute  according  to  our  ability,  of  our  substance,  to  soften  the 
severity  of  their  lot,  and  increase  their  means  of  usefulness.  The  trials  of 
the  dead  plead  with  us  in  behalf  of  the  living:  let  us  do  something  to  sus- 
tain and  comfort  them,  before  the  record  of  what  they  have  suffered,  shall 
address  itself  to  Christians  of  another  generation. 

But  while  the  memoirs  of  these  heroic  men  and  women  appeal  to  our 
sympathies  by  the  sufferings  which  they  record,  not  less  do  they  encourage 
our  hopes  by  the  manifold  evidences  of  success  which  they  furnish.  The 
absolute  promise  of  God,  that  the  nations  shall  ere  long  all  be  subdued  to 
the  gracious  reign  of  the  Mediator,  ought  to  be  enough  to  keep  up  the 
Christian's  courage  in  the  darkest  hour,  and  to  induce  him  to  labour  perse- 
veringly  in  the  face  of  the  most  appalling  obstacles.  But  sad  experience 
shows  that  the  faith  of  most  Christians  is  apt  to  flag,  unless  it  is  sustained 
by  some  visible  tokens  of  the  divine  favour ;  and  in  the  great  work  of  con- 
verting the  world  especially,  we  naturally  look  to  see  whether  the  measure 
of  success  bestowed  is  proportioned  to  the  degree  of  effort  put  forth.  Now 
it  has  come  to  pass  in  the  providence  of  God,  that  the  labours  of  many  of 
our  modern  missionaries  have  been  attended  with  even  an  abundant  blessing. 
They  have  entered  into  fields  which  have  proved  wliite  already  to  harvest; 
■  and  it  has  seemed,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  that  nothing 
remained  to  be  done  but  to  thrust  in  the  sickle.  There  are  instances  not  a 
few  in  which,  when  these  self-denied  persons  commenced  their  missionary 
career,  they  found  themselves  in  the  midst  of  a  population  on  which  not 
one  ray  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  had  ever  fallen ;  a  population  whose 


INTRODUCTIO^T.  21 

religion  was  nothing  better  than  a  compound  of  superstition,  impurity  and 
cruelty;  and  yet  before  the  time  had  come  for  writing  their  history,  they 
have  seen  around  them  not  a  small  number  of  earnest  and  devoted  Chris- 
tians, who  had  been  raised  from  the  degradation  of  Paganism;  schools  in 
which  many  Pagan  children  were  acquiring  a  Christian  education;  and  the 
whole  aspect  of  things  softened  and  brightened  by  the  hallowed  influence 
of  the  gospel.  Time  was  when  their  prayers,  if  not  absolutely  solitary, 
were  the  prayers  of  literally  two  or  three  gathered  together;  but  they  lived 
to  see  the  time  when  the  notice  of  a  prayer  meeting  would  call  together  a 
goodly  assembly  of  devout  souls,  and  those  who  came  would  never  fail  to 
thank  God  that  He  had  caused  the  light  to  shine  upon  them  amidst  the 
deepest  darkness.  Nearly  all  the  missionary  biographies  that  have  been 
given  to  the  world,  while  they  exhibit  a  large  amount  of  sacrifice  and  suf- 
fering,— many  instances  of  hopes  deferred,  and  prospects  overcast,  and 
hearts  bleeding  under  the  rod, — exhibit  yet  more  of  the  triumphs  of  God's 
truth  and  grace,  in  multiplying,  even  from  the  most  hopeless  materials, 
glorious  specimens  of  the  new  creation. 

Who  that  reads  what  Eliot  and  Brainard  accomplished  for  the  poor 
Indians,  or  what  many  of  our  modern  missionaries  have  accomplished  for 
the  Sandwich  islanders,  for  the  inhabitants  of  China,  or  Hindostan,  Turkey, 
or  Syria, — who  that  reads  these  records  of  human  effort  crowned  with  God's 
blessing,  but  will  feel  his  confidence  renewed  in  the  certain  triumph  of  the 
missionary  cause.  Let  not  the  ill-natured  skeptic,  nor  yet  the  half-way 
Christian,  assault  me  with  cavils  or  doubts  in  regard  to  the  universal 
triumph  of  Christianity.  Let  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  attempt  to  weaken 
my  faith  or  paralyze  my  efforts  by  persuading  me  that  there  is  that  in 
Paganism  that  will  never  yield  to  any  influence  that  can  be  brought  to  bear 
upon  it.  If  he  will  thus  insult  me  and  my  religion,  I  will  answer  him  out 
of  the  lives  of  the  missionaries — I  will  read  to  him  passages  that  show 
indubitably  that  they  have  not  laboured  in  their  own  strength;  that  nothing 
at  which  their  missions  aim,  is  too  hard  for  Omnipotence ;  and  that  they 
have  only  to  keep  on  labouring  in  the  spirit  of  those  who  have  gone  before 
them,  and  with  the  measure  of  success  which  the  past  justifies  to  their  hopes, 
to  accomplish,  under  God,  every  thing  that  prophecy  has  foretold  or  faith 
anticipates. 

Is  there  any  thing  that  is  so  well  fitted  to  call  forth  vigorous  effort  in  any 


22  IXTRODUCTION. 

cause  as  the  confident  hope  of  success?  If  I  have  but  faint  hopes  of 
accomplishing  an  object, — no  matter  how  desirable — the  languor  of  my  hopes 
will  be  likely  to  impart  itself,  as  an  enervating  influence  to  my  efforts; 
whereas  if  I  look  with  confident  expectation  to  the  attainment  of  my  end, 
while  yet  I  realize  that  there  can  be  no  success  apart  from  exertion,  I  am 
in  a  state  of  mind  to  labour  most  perseveringly  and  effectively  ;  and  it  is 
scarcely  nnore  certain  that  the  object  which  I  aim  at  is  within  my  reach,  than 
that  it  will  be  attained.  I  read  the  lives  of  the  missionaries,  and  I  see  that 
they  have  not  laboured  in  vain.  I  have  evidence  not  to  be  resisted  that  the 
hand  of  God  has  already  wrought  wonders  through  their  instrumentality. 
Shall  I  not  then,  shall  not  all  my  fellow-Christians  around  me,  sliall  not 
the  wliole  church,  animated  by  the  assurance  of  success,  conveyed  not  only 
by  the  word  of  God,  but  by  the  providence  of  God, — rise  up  to  a  tone  of 
more  vigorous  effort  in  this  great  cause  ?  Shall  not  every  heart  be  strength, 
ened  and  every  hand  nerved  afresh,  for  new  assaults  upon  the  empire  of 
the  prince  of  darkness? 

There  is  another  consideration  here  which  we  may  not  forget — each  mis- 
sionary biography  that  is  written  tells  of  another  active  labourer  withdrawn 
from  the  missionary  ranks,  and  of  course  of  a  vacancy  to  be  filled  by  some 
one  devoted  to  the  same  high  vocation.  In  reading  their  instructive  works, 
we  do  right  to  pause,  and  thank  God  for  all  that  he  has  accomplished  by  the 
subjects  of  them;  and  it  is  almost  a  thing  of  course  that  we  follow  them  to 
their  glorious  reward ;  that  we  think  of  them  as  shouting  louder  hallelujahs 
because  they  have  come  out  of  great  tribulation.  But  who  shall  take  up 
the  implements  of  spiritual  labour  on  earth  which  they  have  laid  down? 
who  shall  succeed  to  them  in  their  efforts  to  enlighten  and  save  the  poor 
heathen?  Who  shall  carry  forward  the  work  in  which  they  were  actively 
engaged — who  shall  water  the  plants  of  righteousness  which  have  already 
begun  to  spring  up  under  their  diligent  and  well-directed  culture — who 
shall  quicken  the  upward  tendencies  of  the  spirit  that  had  already  begun  to 
rise,  and  secure  to  Heaven  that  which  is  yet  exposed  to  hell  ?  The  answer 
to  these  questions  falls  on  the  ear  and  the  heart  of  the  church,  as  a  matter 
of  most  impressive  significance.  Other  devoted  men  must  enter  into  the 
labours  of  those  who  are  departed.  If  death  takes  away  from  the  mission- 
ary ranks,  yet  he  must  not  be  allowed  to  thin  them;  for  the  zeal  and  charity 
-)f  the  church  must  not  only  supply  the  places  of  those  whom  he  numbers 


INTRODUCTION.  23 

as  his  victims,  but  must  constantly  add  fresli  recruits,  with  a  view  to  extend 
and  quicken  these  benevolent  operations.  It  is  delightful  to  reflect  that  each 
missionary  who  is  called  to  liis  I'est  should  thus  make  provision  by  the 
appeal  which  he  sends  forth  from  his  grave  for  filling  his  place,  and  that 
the  tidings  of  his  death  in  connection  with  the  story  of  his  life  should  come 
to  a  thousand  hearts  as  an  argument  for  renewed  diligence  in  the  mis- 
sionary work. 

Let  it  be  remembered  then  that  the  memoirs  of  our  devoted  missionaries 
will  not  have  fully  accomplished  their  work,  unless  their  eflfect  is  felt  in  a 
deeper  sense  of  obligation  on  the  part  of  the  church,  not  only  to  keep  good, 
but  to  increase  the  missionary  ranks.  Each  of  these  works,  as  it  comes 
from  the  press,  embalming  some  honoured  and  endeared  name,  calls  upon 
the  whole  body  of  the  faithful  to  engage  more  vigorously,  especially  in  fur- 
nishing suitable  labourers  for  the  conversion  of  the  world.  It  calls  upon 
our  Education  societies  to  extend  their  patronage,  especially  to  those  who  are 
looking  towards  the  missionary  field ;  while  they  are  careful  to  encourage 
none  who,  on  any  account,  are  disqualified  for  such  a  destination.  It  calls 
upon  our  young  men  who  hope  they  have  felt  the  quickening  influence  of 
God's  Spirit,  and  are  directing  their  thoughts  to  the  Christian  ministry,  to 
remember  the  millions  who  are  sitting  in  the  region  of  the  shadow  of  death,  and 
to  inquire  whether  it  may  not  be  their  duty  to  carry  them  the  light  of  life.  It 
calls  upon  the  heads  of  our  Theological  seminaries,  to  cherish  with  watch- 
ful and  earnest  solicitude  the  missionary  spirit  among  those  whose  education 
they  superintend  ;  encouraging,  so  far  as  they  can,  every  hopeful  disposi- 
tion for  this  field  of  labour.  It  calls  upon  Christian  parents  to  strive  to  the 
extent  of  their  ability  for  the  conversion  of  their  children,  not  merely  that 
they  may  thereby  escape  hell  and  obtain  Heaven,  nor  yet  merely  that  they 
may  be  honoured  as  instruments  of  good  to  their  fellow-creatures,  but  that, 
if  God  will,  they  may  labour  directly  for  the  salvation  of  the  poor  heathen, 
and  have  an  important  agency  in  this  way  in  the  ultimate  conversion  of  the 
world.  I  repeat, — the  memoirs  of  each  departed  missionary  is  a  standing 
monition  not  only  to  repair  the  waste  of  morality,  not  only  to  strengthen  the 
things  that  remain  that  are  ready  to  die,  but  to  give  new  life  to  the  mission- 
ary enterprize,  till  there  no  longer  remains  any  part  of  the  territories  of 
darkness  that  is  not  enlightened. 


24  INTRODUCTION. 

The  preceding  train  of  tliought,  I  trust,  not  only  justifies,  but  honours 
the  efforts  which  are  made  from  time  to  time  to  perpetuate  the  memories  of 
those  who  have  laboured  with  signal  fidelity  and  success  in  the  missionary 
field.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  many  of  the  most  attractive  as  well  as 
edifying  works  of  Christian  biography  belong  to  this  class ;  and  if  there 
are  among  them  some  of  inferior  interest,  yet  there  are  kw,  if  any,  which 
have  not  their  sphere  of  usefulness.  It  was  a  happy  thought  in  the  pro- 
jectors  of  the  present  work  to  bring  together  in  a  glorious  group  so  many 
names  which,  by  common  consent,  have  illumined  the  records  of  the  mis- 
sionary  enterprise.  Though  the  notices  of  the  several  individuals  are 
necessarily  brief,  to  be  included  within  the  limits  prescribed,  yet  each 
article  will  be  found  long  enough  to  present,  in  an  impressive  manner,  an 
exalted  character  and  a  useful  life.  As  these  pages,  at  once  historical  and 
commemorative,  are  read  and  pondered  by  the  followers  of  Christ,  may  the 
missionary  cause  receive  fresh  accessions  in  both  numbers  and  strength, 
and  may  those  who  are  hereafter  to  engage  in  this  work  be  the  more 
devoted  and  the  more  successful  from  having  contemplated  the  heroic  and 
martyr-like  spirit  of  so  many  who  have  gone  before  them. 


A  YIE  ¥ 


EARLIER  MISSIONARY  ENTERPRISES. 


[The  missionary  enterprise  was  styled  by  John  Foster  "the  glory 
OF  THE  AGE."  ■  There  is  an  important  sense  in  which  the  appellation 
is  just  for  until  within  little  more  than  a  half  century  past  modern 
Christendom  has  not,  since  the  reformation,  been  aroused  to  attempt 
the  conquest  of  the  world.  [As  civilization  seeks  out  the  farthest 
nations,  to  unite  them  by  ties  of  commercial  interest  in  one  great 
commonwealth  of  states,  the  church,  in  a  Hke  spirit,  of  enlarged 
enterprise,  girds  herself  to  extend  over  all  tliat  kingd€>hi  which  "is 
not  meat  and  drink,"  nor  wealth  and  art,  "but  righteousness  and 
peace."  While,  however,  considered  as  a  comprehensive  scheme, 
planned  upon  a  scale  larger  than  the  wisdom  of  Providence  permit- 
ted earlier  generations  to  deviseJTthe  missionary  work  of  the  present 
"SfiJCy-  has  a  character  of  its  own,  the  enterprise  itself  is  the  same 
which  was  originally  committed  to  the  church  by  her  adorable 
Head;  and  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  carried  on  is  but  a  revival  of 
that  which  animated  the  apostles  and  their  immediate  successors, 
and  which  in  various  degrees  has  been  manifested  during  the  inter- 
vening agesT^  As  the  present  work  concerns  itself  only  with  men 
whose  nam(  s  and  memory  are  "the  glory  of  this  age,"  it  is  not 
inappropriate'  first  to  take  a  rapid  glance  at  earlier  missionary 
achievements,  the  record  of  which  did  much  to  kindle  the  flame 
that  now  burns  so  brightly  on  the  evangelical  altar. 

If  the  apostles  did  not  literally  go  "into  all  the  world,"  according 
to  the  terms  of  their  commission,  they  went  fearlessly  as  far  as 
Divine  Providence  opened  the  way,  and  in  conjunction  with  a  body 
of  faithful  coadjutors,  laid  the  foundation  of  churches  in  a  large 
portion  of  the  Eoman   empire  and  regions  beyond  the  reacli  of 


26  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

Iloman  arms.  It  is  the  testimony  of  the  apostle  of  the  Geutiles, 
that  "not  many  great,  not  many  mighty,  not  many  noble"  were 
called.  The  disciples  were  poor  and  despised,  but  their  liberality 
is  in  some  instances  specially  commended  in  the  apostolic  epistles, 
and  attested  by  pagan  writers.  Their  zeal  for  the  faith  sustained 
them  against  reproach,  persecution  and  death,  and  armed  by  the 
divine  power  of  their  doctrines,  confirmed  for  a  time  by  miraculovis 
agency,  was  irresistible  by  Jewish  and  pagan  hate  or  imperial  power. 
The  apostles  traversed  Judea  and  a  considerable  portion  of  Western 
Asia,  Macedonia,  Greece  and  the  ^gean  isles,  and  preached  Christ 
in  the  city  of  Rome.  And  though  implicit  credit  can  hardly  be 
given  to  all  that  tradition  has  preserved  of  their  travels,  it  is  nearly 
certain  that  by  them  and  their  immediate  successors  during  the  first 
century,  Christianity  was  carried  eastward  as  far  as  the  Indus,  west- 
ward to  Britain,  and  southward  into  the  continent  of  Africa,  while 
some  hold  that  both  Ceylon  and  Continental  India  were  evangelized 
by  St.  Thomas.  The  concurrent  testimony  of  both  Christian  and 
pagan  writers  shows  the  church,  during  the  second  and  third  cen- 
turies, to  have  overcome  the  ancient  superstitions  in  southern  and 
western  Europe,  and  in  the  succeeding  century  Christianity  was  dis- 
tinctly elevated  to  the  height  of  worldly  grandeur  by  the  Emperor 
Constantine. 

It  cannot  be  necessary  to  point  out  the  identity  between  the  pro- 
gress of  the  primitive  church  and  those  operations  which  are  now 
distinguished  as  missionary.  The  object  sought  was  the  conversion 
of  the  nations, — the  motive,  obedience  to  express  command, — the 
means,  preaching  the  truth, — the  instruments,  men  set  apart  to  the 
work,  and  sustained  by  the  contributions,  prayers  and  sympathies 
of  their  brethren;  and  the  same  objects  are  now  sought  in  essen- 
tially the  same  manner,  with  such  circumstantial  differences  of 
method  in  detail  as  convenience  suggests  and  experience  has  sanc- 
tioned. In  the  view  of  some  there  is  a  marked  disparity  of  success  in 
the  two  cases,  but  when  the  modern  missionary  enterprise  shall  have 
completed  a  century,  of  which  little  more  than  half  has  now  elapsed, 
such  a  comparison  will  be  more  just.  In  speaking  of  those  early 
times,  as  the  exploits  of  a  century  or  two  flit  through  the  mind,  or 
are  fluently  uttered  by  the  tongue,  the  actual  lapse  of  years  is  not 
always  appreciated  at  the  moment. 

The  corruption  of  the  church,  which  was  hastened  by  its  alliance 
with  the  state  till  it  ultimately  ripened  into  the  great  Papal  apostacy, 


MISSIONAKY    ENTERPRISES.  27 

and  the  distraction  of  heresies,  combined  to  arrest  this  progress,  and 
the  subsequent  rise  of  the  Mohammedan  power  tended  to  place 
Christendom  in  a  defensive  rather  than  an  aggressive  attitude.  Yet 
in  the  pauses  of  these  mighty  movements,  through  the  darkest  ages 
that  preceded  the  Keformation,  nominal  Christianity  was  diffused  by 
zealous  missionaries,  by  political  strategy  or  by  force  of  arms,  through 
the  rest  of  Europe.  If  the  legends  of  Rome  are  to  be  believed, 
these  ages  were  more  fruitful  in  heroic  zeal  and  miraculous  attesta- 
tions of  the  faith  than  that  of  the  apostles  themselves,  and  the  further 
we  descend  into  the  dusky  shadow  of  the  middle  ages,  the  greater 
are  the  demands  upon  our  credulity.  Yet  while  rejecting  these 
audacious  fictions,  and  estimating  at  their  true  value  the  triumphs 
of  a  Cross  which  was  divested  in  great  part  of  its  spiritual  significance 
and  moral  energy,  it  would  be  unjust  to  deny  that  much  was  done 
for  human  welfare.  The  church  of  Rome  was  the  faithful  custodian, 
if  not  a  faithful  interpreter  of  the  Scriptures.  With  these,  in  com- 
pany with  much  fearful  error,  was  diffused  also  much  healthful  truth, 
and  where  even  thus  much  cannot  be  said,  and  conversion  was  little 
more  than  the  assumption  of  the  Christian  name,  though  it  might 
be  likened  to  the  raising  up  of  an  army  of  dry  bones,  these  skeleton 
churches  were  at  least  made  ready  to  receive  breath  from  the 
inspiration  of  the  Almighty,  when  the  fulness  of  time  had  come  for 
the  Reformation  to  assert  the  dishonoured  doctrines  of  primitive 
Christianity. 

That  great  event,  however,  was  followed  by  no  such  revival  of 
missionary  zeal  as  might  have  been  anticipated  from  the  profoundly 
spiritual  elements  that  gave  to  it  its  original  impulse.  The  arm  of 
secular  power  was  raised  at  once  for  the  extinction  and  for  the 
defence  of  the  reformed  faith,  and  the  alliance  of  Protestantism  with 
the  state  transferred  the  contest  from  the  pulpit  and  the  press  to  the 
circles  of  diplomacy  and  the  field  of  battle.  The  fact  that  a  thirty 
years'  war  was  among  the  issues  of  a  religious  reformation,  melan- 
choly as  it  is  in  itself,  is  more  sad  as  a  symptom  of  the  fundamental 
error  that  mingled  itself  with  the  movement  in  its  beginning.  That 
grand  absurdity, — if  a  solecism  so  fatal  in  its  results  have  not 
redeemed  itself  by  the  immensity  of  its  mischiefs  from  such  a  title, 
— of  a  territorial  religion,  by  which  a  religious  profession  is  made 
to  coincide  with  civil  allegiance,  and  the  church  is  made  parcel  of 
the  ordinary  municipal  law,  was  fastened  upon  all  Protestant  Europe, 


28  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIEU 

with  SO  powerful  a  coliesion  that  no  revolutionary  sliock  has  more 
than  temporarily  disengaged  it.  To  one  who  looks  at  Christianity 
as  revealed  in  the  New  Testament,  or  from  the  point  of  view  attained 
in  these  United  States,  nothing  can  be  more  foreign  to  its  whole 
spirit  and  design.  But  the  idea  has  taken  full  possession  of  the 
European  mind,  and  is  now  (1851)  exhibiting  its  power  in  a  remark- 
able degree,  in  the  agitation  which  has  pervaded  all  classes  of  Eng- 
lish Protestants,  churchmen  and  dissenters,  at  the  assumption  of 
territorial  titles  by  Roman  Catholic  prelates.*  Through  every  form 
the  movement  has  assumed,  we  see  at  bottom  the  one  dominant 
error  that  is  the  worst  bane  of  European  Protestantism, — that  reli- 
gion has  its  seat  not  only  in  individual  human  affections  as  swayed 
by  Divine  influences,  but  in  the  soil,  in  tlie  local  organization  of 
societ}^,  in  the  municipal  law  of  the  land. 

The  effect  of  this  original  error  was  to  make  the  reformed 
churches,  except  for  purposes  of  common  defence,  isolated  commu- 
nities, fixed  almost  as  closely  to  their  territorial  limits  as  the  civil 
powers  on  which  they  leaned  for  support.  Systematic  aggression, 
on  Christian  principles,  upon  the  limits  of  pagaiiism  and  the  bap- 
tized heathenism  of  Papal  countries,  was  hardly  thought  of,  and 
the  din  of  war  must  have  soon  suspended  them  if  they  had  been 
attempted.  While  the  church  of  Rome,  tlioroughly  centralized, 
and  possessing  a  rigid  exterior  unity,  acted  with  unity  of  design 
throughout  Europe,  and  sent  forth  zealous  missionaries  among  the 
heathen  of  the  old  and  the  new  world,  Protestant  Christendom  was 
both  dogmatically  and  politically  divided.  "  The  Church  of  England," 
says  Mr.  Macaulay,  "existed  for  England  alone.     It  was  an  institu- 

*  There  has  been  unquestionably  a  complicated  mixture  of  motives  in  this  singu- 
lar agitation,  but  no  one  can  consider  it  in  connection  with  antecedent  events  and 
manifestations  of  public  opinion,  without  perceiving  the  dominion  of  this  sentiment. 
Tliat  papal  bishops  and  priests  should  have  tlie  amplest  ficillties  for  proselytism, — 
which  is  no  more  than  proper;  that  a  powerful  body  of  perjured  ecclesiastics  and  heads 
of  colleges,  sworn  to  the  defence  of  Protestant  doctrine,  should,  with  scarcely  a  decent 
attempt  at  justification,  employ  the  rich  endowments  of  the  church  and  the  universi- 
ties to  propagate  an  undisguised  Romanism  in  every  thing  but  the  name, — which 
has  been  for  full  fifteen  years  the  scandal  of  the  Anglic:m  church;  these  things  drew 
alike  from  church  and  conventicle  little  more  than  a  faint  remonstrance.  But  the 
intelligence  thit  the  Pope  presumed  to  call  Dr.  Wiseman  Archbishop  of  Wext- 
jiiinster,  instead  of  choosing  for  him  a  title  from  some  city  in  Utopia  or  the  Cannibal 
Islands,  raised  a  storm  of  patriotic  wrath  and  Protestant  fury,  entirely  novel  to  the 
present  generation. 


/ 


MISSIONARY     ENTERPRISES.  29 

tion  as  purely  local  as  the  court  of  Common  Pleas."^'  Aud  the 
same  was  true  of  the  reformed  churches  of  the  contineut.  As  a 
consequence,  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  witnessed  no 
missionary  enterprises  on  the  part  of  European  Protestants,  except 
an  ineffectual  attempt  at  Geneva,  in  155  6jJ:o  establish  a  missionin 
Brazilj  and  the  founding  of  a  mission  in  Lapland  three  years  after- 
2-  wards,  under  the  patronage  of  the  king  of  Sweden.  The  nominal 
2  results  of  Dutchprosel^tism  iii^Cejlon  do  not  deserve  to  be  treated 
as  an  exception.  Upon  the  conquest  of  that  island  it  was  enacted 
that  no  native  should  be  admitted  to  anj'  emploj^ment  under  gov- 
ernment, unless  he  became  a  member  of  the  reformed  church,  and 
subscribed  the  Ilelvetic  Confession.  As  tlie  candidates  had  only  to 
be  christened,  and  to  recite  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  ten  command- 
ments, multitudes  flocked  to  the  font.  Such  a  profanation  of  Chris- 
tian ordinances  we  might  desire,  for  the  good  name  of  Protestant 
Christendom,  to  consign  to  eternal  forgetfulness. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  dawn  of  modern 
missions  broke  upon  Europe.f  In  1705,  Frederick  lY.,  King  of 
Denmark,  sent  two  missionaries,  Bartholomew  Ziegenbalg  and  Henry 
Plutcho,  to  attempt  the  evangelization  of  India.  They  established 
themselves  at  Tranquebar,  on  the  coast  oi^oromandel,  acquired 
the  Tamil  language,  aud  commenced  preaching  with  considerable 
effect.  They  also  founded  a  free  school.  They  experienced  much 
opposition  from  the  resident  European  population,  but  continued 
firmly  at  their  posts,  and  were  shortly  cheered  by  the  arrival  of  three 
associates  and  a  considerable  sum  of  money.  In  1710,  the  Society 
for  promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  established  in  London  about 
twelve  years  before  for  the  purpose  of  publishing  and  circulating 
religious  books,  extended  to  them  its  patronage,  and  furnished  them 
with  a  printing  press.  A  font  of  Tamil  types  was  secured  through 
the  liberality  of  friends  in  Germany,  and  they  afterwards  erected 
a  type  foundry  and  paper  mill.  They  were  thus  enabled,  in  the 
year  1715,  to  issue  an  edition  of  the  Scriptures  in  Tamil,  translated 
by  Ziegenbalg.     This  devoted  pioneer,  and  one  of  his  colleagues, 

*  Edinburgh  Review,  October,  1840. — On  Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes. 

f  The  light  may  be  said  to  have  first  broken  in  the  west,  in  the  preceding  century, 
the  missionary  success  of  the  settlers  of  New-England  liaving,  to  some  extent  at 
least,  as  we  shall  see  hereafter,  been  instrumental  in  exciting  tiie  zeal  of  Christiana 
in  the  old  world. 


30  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

Grundler,  were  called  to  their  eternal  reward  witliiii  five  years. 
The  work  was  prosecuted  with  constancy  and  enlarged  success  by  the 
surviving  band.  A  flourishing  mission  was  commenced  at  Madras 
in  1728j  and  shortly  after,  by  the  conversion  of  an  inferior  officer 
in  the  army  of  the  rajah  of  Tanjore,  an  opening  was  made  for  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  into  that  country.  In  1737,  the  Madras 
Mission  extended  its  operations  to  Cuddalore,  where,  after  overcom- 
ing much  opposition,  they  laboured  with  encouraging  effect.  The 
capture  of  Madras  by  the  French  was  followed  by  the  laying  waste 
of  the  mission  premises,  but  on  the  return  of  peace  the  loss  was 
made  up  by  the  government.  In  1752,  the  renewal  of  hostilities 
between  the  French  and  English  caused  such  an  interruption  of  all 
evangelical  effort,  that  Rev.  Mr.  Kiernander  left  Cuddalore,  and 
established  himself  in  Calcutta,  where  he  held  forth  the  word  of  life 
for  thirty  years. 

In  1750,  Rev.  Christian  Frederick  Swartz  arrived  at  Tranquebar, 
and  entered  upon  those  apostolic  labours  which  have  linked  his  name 
imperishably  with  the  establishment  and  progress  of  Christianity 
in  India.  He  had  gained  some  knowledge  of  the  Tamil  while  at 
the  university,  to  aid  in  examining  the  proofs  of  a  version  of  the 
Scriptures  in  that  language,  an  incident  which  is  supposed  to  have 
suggested  to  him  the  design  of  devoting  himself  to  missionary  life. 
On  his  arrival  he  pursued  his  studies  with  such  ardour  and  success, 
that  in  four  months  he  commenced  preaching.  His  labours  Avere 
indefatigable,  in  public  and  private,  in  Tranquebar,  Trichinopoly, 
Tanjore  and  throughout  the  Carnatic,  for  the  space  of  fifty  years. 
His  purity,  sincerity  and  disinterestedness  won  the  confidence  of  all 
classes,  and  those  even  who  rejected  his  doctrine  gave  him  the 
tribute  of  their  unaffected  veneration.  In  the  distracting  wars  that 
marked  that  portion  of  the  history  of  British  India,  his  active  ben- 
evolence was  exerted  to  relieve  misery  which  he  could  not  prevent, 
and  more  than  once  he  was  sent  to  negotiate  treaties,  as  the  only 
European  who  would  be  trusted  by  the  natives.  When  a  garrison 
was  threatened  with  flimine,  and  the  people  could  not  be  induced  to 
furnish  provisions,  through  fear  that  the  supplies  they  offered  would 
be  seized  without  compensation,  they  accepted  the  security  of  the 
venerated  missionary  for  the  whole  amount  needed.  He  rendered 
important  services  both  to  the  British  and  to  the  native  princes,  yet 
scrupulously  avoided  receiving  any  gifts  or  emoluments  that  miight 
taint  him  with  the  suspicion  of  mercenary  motives,  and  sedulously 


MISSIOXARY    ENTEEPRISES.  81 

guarded  liimself  from  being  involved  in  any  transactions  tliat  might 
impair  his  influence  as  a  Christian  and  a  preacher  of  the  gospel. 
Witb  all  the  humility  of  a  child  and  the  wisdom  of  mature  experi- 
ence, the  harmlessness  of  a  dove  and  the  wisdom  of  the  serpent, 
he  was  enabled  to  testify  to  the  truth  in  every  place  and  among  all 
grades  of  society.  At  his  death  he  was  mourned  as  a  father,  and 
the  rajah  of  Tanjore  erected  a  monument  to  his  memory,  with  an 
inscription  which  is  remarkable  as  the  only  specimen  of  English 
\'erse  attempted  hj  an  Indian  prince. 

At  the  death  of  Swartz  the  native  Christians  connected  with  the 
mission  were  counted  by  thousands.  The  fruit  of  his  toils  was 
rapidly  gathered  by  his  successors.  Bishop  Heber,  writing  in  1826, 
says,  "  There  are  in  the  south  of  India  about  two  hundred  Protest- 
ant congregations,"  and  he  estimated  their  number  at  about  fifteen 
thousand.  Many  were  undoubtedly  merely  nominal  Christians,  as 
the  Lutheran  Missionaries  were  much  less  exacting  in  the  qualifica- 
tions they  demanded  for  admission  to  the  sacraments,  than  later 
missionaries  have  felt  it  their  duty  to  be ;  yet  considering  the  purity 
of  their  preaching  and  the  devout  spirit  in  which  their  labours  were 
conducted,  a  large  measure  of  piety  must  have  been  the  result. 
These  missions  have  since  come  under  the  patronage  of  the  London 
Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and  the  superintendence 
of  the  Anglican  Bishop  of  Calcutta. 

Less  cheering  in  its  results,  but  memorable  for  self-sacrifice  and 
patient  endurance,  was  the  Danish  mission  to  Greenland,  commenced 
in  1721^  by  Rev.  Hans  Egede.  This  devoted  man  had  for  thirteen 
years  felt  a  desire  to  convey  the  gospel  to  that  inhospitable  country, 
and  made  repeated  ineffectual  attempts  to  carry  it  into  execution. 
At  length  he  succeeded  in  raising  a  subscription  of  eight  thousand 
rix  dollars,  and  purchased  a  ship  to  convey  himself  and  several  set- 
tlers, who  proposed  to  winter  in  Greenland.  The  King  sanctioned 
and  aided  the  enterprise,  and  settled  upon  Mr.  Egede  a  salary  of 
three  hundred  dollars  a-year.  On  their  arrival  they  proceeded  to 
erect  a  habitation,  much  to  the  displeasure  of  the  natives,  who  called 
on  their  conjurors  to  destroy  them.  Mr.  Egede  attempted,  without 
success,  to  convey  to  the  people  a  knowledge  of  the  most  important 
facts  of  revealed  truth  b}^  pictures,  but  the  following  year  he  gained 
some  familiarity  with  the  language,  and  was  able  to  undertake  oral 
instruction.      The  arrival   of  a  collcngue  in  the  succeeding  year, 


32  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

cstrengthened  his  hands,  but  though  the  people  listened  attentively 
to  what  was  told  them,  thej  showed  no  personal  interest  in  his 
preaching.  Some  of  them,  indeed,  seemed  pleased  with  the  doc- 
trine of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  but  the  impression  jjroduced 
was  faint,  and  their  curiosity  was  soon  satisfied. 

In  1728,  the  king  of  Denmark  resolved  on  prosecuting  the  work 
with  increased  energy,  and  a  large  colony,  with  additional  mission- 
aries, was  sent  out,  and  established  a  new  settlement  two  hundred 
miles  northward  of  Good  Hope,  the  station  founded  by  Mr.  Egede. 
But  the  severity  of  the  winter  and  the  ravages  of  a  malignant  dis- 
ease made  them  discontented,  and  the  accession  of  Christian  YI.  to 
the  Danish  throne  put  an  end  to  the  enterprise.  The  colonists  were 
ordered  home,  Mr.  Egede's  salary  was  stopped,  and  he  was  offered 
the  alternative  of  returning  with  the  rest,  or  remaining  on  his  own 
responsibility  with  such  persons  as  he  could  induce  to  stay  with  him. 
He  obtained  a  supply  of  provisions  for  one  year,  and  ten  men  to 
remain  during  the  winter,  and  with  a  heavy  heart  bade  adieu  to  his 
two  colleagues,  who  returned  with  the  colony. 

A  vessel  arrived  the  next  year  with  provisions,  and  having  a 
valuable  return  cargo,  the  king  was  encouraged  to  renew  the  trade, 
and  made  a  generous  donation  to  the  mission.  This  intelligence 
gave  fresh  strength  to  the  lonely  missionary,  but  his  faith  was 
doomed  to  a  severer  trial.  A  young  Greenlander,  who  had  visited 
Denmark,  came  back,  and  shortly  after  died  of  a  disease  that  proved 
to  be  the  small-pox.  The  contagion  spread  rapidly,  and  raged  for 
twelve  nionths,  with  such  fatal  effect,  that  for  thirty  leagues  north 
of  the  settlement  the  country  was  almost  wholly  depopulated.  Such 
was  the  alarm  and  consternation  of  the  natives  at  this  visitation, 
that  many  committed  suicide.  Mr.  Egede,  in  conjunction  with  the 
Moravian  missionaries,  who  had  recently  arrived  in  the  countrj^,  did 
all  that  untiring  benevolence  could  do,  to  alleviate  the  physical  suf- 
ferings, and  comfort  the  hearts  of  the  unhappy  Greenlanders;  they 
were  much  affected  by  his  kindness,  and  manifested  the  liveliest 
gratitude. 

The  mission  was  reinforced  in  1734,  by  the  arrival  of  three  assist- 
ants, one  of  them  a  son  of  Mr.  Egede.  The  venerable  pioneer, 
regarding  the  number  as  wholly  inadequate,  returned  to  Denmark. 
His  representations  led  to  the  establishment  of  several  new  colonics, 
and  the  sending  of  additional  missionaries.  But  the  efficiency  and 
interest  of  the  Danish  mission  shortly  declined.     It  had  not  beeu 


MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISES.  S3 

wholly  in  vain,  but  its  fruits  were  scanty,  and  the  chief  agency  in 
imparting  Christianity  to  Greenland,  was  now  manifestly  committed 
to  the  United  Brethren  or  Moravians. 

This  extraordinary  band  of  Christian  disciples,  the  feeble  remnant 
of  a  once  numerous  body,  that  for  a  century  and  a  half,  against 
powerful  enemies,  maintained  the  doctrines  of  revealed  truth  in 
Bohemia  and  Poland,  found  a  refuge  from  persecution  on  the  estate 
of  Count  Zinzendorf,  at  Bethels-dorf,  in  Upper  Lusatia.  Thousands 
had  been  driven  into  banishment,  and  in  their  scattered  condition 
they  and  their  descendants  had  either  been  absorbed  into  other 
communions,  or  had  lost,  in  a  great  measure,  the  power  of  that  faith 
which  had  been  sealed  with  the  blood  of  so  many  martyrs  and  con- 
fessors. The  whole  congregation  at  Hernhutt,  the  name  by  which 
their  settlement  in  Lusatia  was  known,  did  not  exceed  six  hundred 
persons.  Yet  so  ardent  was  their  zeal  for  the  honour  of  their  Lord, 
that  in  ten  years  they  sent  forth  missionaries  to  Greenland,  the 
West  Indies,  Africa,  North  and  South  America,  and  their  enter- 
prises have  been  crowned  with  a  success  proportioned  more  to  the 
simplicity  and  earnestness  of  their  faith,  than  to  their  apparent 
resources.  The  language  of  a  distinguished  English  essayist,* 
although  somewhat  too  sweeping  in  its  terms,  has  a  basis  in  truth : 
"The  nations  which  separated  themselves  from  Popery,  protested 
against  the  pontiff,  but  did  not  pronounce  for  Christ.  Small  com- 
munities, and  only  very  small  ones  did;  principally  the  Moravians," 
Without  assenting  to  the  negative  proposition  in  its  full  breadth,  it 
cannot  be  gainsaid  that  this  humble  company  of  saints  showed  an 
unworldly,  self-sacrificing  devotion,  that  contrasted  most  signally 
with  the  prevailing  spirit  of  more  powerful  churches. 

It  was  in  the  year  1732  that,  after  some  conversation  on  the  pos- 
sibility and  duty  of  conveying  the  gospel  to  heathen  nCw^-ions,  two 
young  men,  Matthew  and  Christian  Stach,  offered  to  go  as  mission- 
aries to  Greenland,  and  in  the  ensuing  spring  proceeded  to  Copen- 
hagen, to  make  arrangements  for  their  voyage.  "There  was  no 
need,"  says  one  of  them,  "of  much  time  or  expense  for  our  equip- 
ment. The  congregation  consisted  chiefly  of  poor  exiles  who  had 
not  much  to  give,  and  we  ourselves  had  nothing  but  the  clothes  on 
our  backs.     We  had  been  used  to  make  shift  with  little,  and  did 

*  Will  tor  Saviige  Landor 


34  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

not  trouble  ourselves  how  we  should  get  to  Greenland,  or  how  we 
should  live  there.  The  day  before  our  departure,  a  friend  in  Vienna 
sent  r,  donation,  and  a  part  of  this  we  received  for  our  journey  to 
Copenhagen.  We  now  therefore  considered  ourselves  richly  pro- 
vided for,  and  would  accept  nothing  from  any  person  on  the  road, 
believing  that  He  who  had  sent  to  us  so  timely  a  supply,  would  fur- 
nish us  with  every  thing  requisite  for  accomplishing  our  purpose." 
No  words  could  portray  the  spirit  of  their  holy  enterprise  more 
vividly  than  this  artless  statement.  No  wonder  that  He,  who  had 
not  where  to  lay  his  head,  and  yet  ever  went  about  doing  good, 
honoured  the  faith  of  these  humble  disciples! 

At  Copenhagen,  they  were  kindly  received  by  the  king,  who 
approved  of  their  purpose,  and  gave  them  a  letter  in  his  own  hand, 
commending  them  to  the  friendship  of  Mr.  Egede.  Without  solicit- 
ation they  were  provided  by  many  excellent  persons,  who  admired 
their  zeal,  with  sufficient  money  to  defray  the  cost  of  their  voyage, 
materials  for  a  house,  and  a  variety  of  necessary  articles  for  their 
settlement.  On  their  arrival  in  Greenland,  they  established  them- 
selves at  a  place  which  they  named  New  Hernhutt,  and  under  the 
instruction  of  Mr.  Egede,  commenced  the  study  of  the  language, 
which  they  learned  with  great  difliculty.  The  terrible  visitation  of 
the  small-pox,  shortly  after,  engrossed  their  attention,  and  after  it 
was  over  they  were  attacked  by  a  violent  disorder,  by  which  they 
nearly  lost  the  use  of  their  limbs.  On  their  recovery,  so  great  was 
their  discouragement  at  the  depopulation  of  the  country  and  the 
indisposition  of  the  natives  to  associate  with  them,  that  they  begau 
to  think  of  returning  to  Europe,  when  the  arrival  of  two  assistants 
in  1734,  and  the  information  that  the  congregation  at  Hernhutt  were 
resolved  to  support  them  to  the  utmost  of  their  power,  renewed  their 
courage.  During  the  first  five  years  of  their  settlement  they  endured 
great  hardships,  and  found  almost  insuperable  obstacles  in  attempt- 
ing to  communicate  instruction.  Sometimes  they  were  reduced  to 
the  verge  of  starvation.  The  people  were  extremely  capricious  in 
^heir  treatment  of  them.  Now  they  would  attend  with  apparent  inter- 
est to  their  preaching,  and  again  treat  it  with  the  utmost  contempt; 
they  even  displayed  at  times  a  degree  of  personal  enmity  to  the 
missionaries,  which  was  enough  to  weary  any  common  measure  of 
benevolence. 

But  in  the  summer  of  1738,  an  event  occurred  which  confirmed 
their  faith,  and  at  the  same  time  imparted  to  them  a  valuable  lesson* 


MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISES.  85 

One  of  their  number,  John  Beck,  was  called  upon  by  a  company  of 
natives  while  transcribing  a  translation  of  a  portion  of  the  New 
Testament.  They  were  curious  to  know  what  he  was  writing.  After 
reading  to  them  a  few  sentences,  he  gave  them  a  brief  account  of  the 
creation  and  the  fall  of  man,  and  unfolded  the  plan  of  redemption, 
upon  which  he  discoursed  with  much  energy  and  feeling.  He  then 
read  from  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke,  the  narrative  of  Christ's  agony 
in  the  garden.  At  this  point,  one  of  his  auditors,  named  Kayarnak, 
stepped  forward,  exclaiming,  "How  was  that?  Let  me  hear  that 
again;  for  I,  too,  am  desirous  to  be  saved."  The  missionary,  deeply 
affected,  resumed  his  discourse,  describing  the  principal  scenes  in  the 
life  of  the  Saviour,  and  explaining  the  way  of  salvation.  While 
thus  engaged,  he  was  joined  by  his  brethren,  who  had  been  absent 
on  business;  they  united  with  him  in  uttering  "all  the  words  of  this 
life"  to  the  eager  listeners.  Kayarnak  was  led  to  take  up  his  abode 
with  the  missionaries  for  farther  instruction,  and  soon  gave  evidence 
that  the  truth  was  received  into  his  heart.  Others  were  led  by  him 
to  receive  instruction,  and  it  became  evident  that  the  mission  was  not 
established  in  vain. 

These  events  were  not  less  admonitory  than  encouraging  to  the 
missionaries.  Up  to  this  time  they  had  kept  in  the  back-ground 
those  essential  doctrines  which  they  regarded  as  more  sublime  and 
mysterious,  aiming  to  conduct  their  hearers  by  a  gradual  process, 
dwelling  on  the  attributes  of  the  Deity,  the  depravity  of  man,  the 
nature  and  demands  of  the  divine  law.  By  these  events,  they 
were  taught  the  old  but  still  needful  lesson,  that  "the  foolishness  of 
God  is  wiser  than  men."  The  doctrine  of  the  Cross  vindicated  itself 
as  "the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God."  Thenceforth  they 
built  on  this  foundation,  and  it  failed  them  not.  At  the  close  of  the 
year  1748,  two  hundred  and  thirty -eight  Christian  Greenlanders 
were  settled  at  New  Hernhutt.  The  limits  of  our  present  sketch  do 
not  admit  of  a  full  history  of  this,  or  of  the  other  missions  of  the 
►fT<l-  United_,Brethren.  It  is  sufficient  for  its  general  purpose  to  remark, 
:U' J  that  to  the  present  day,  their  settlements  remain  as  a  lasting  monu- 
ment to  the  unwearied  benevolence  and  divinely  instructed  wisdom 
with  which  their  labours  of  love  were  prosecuted,  shedding  upon  that 
inhospitable  region  the  genial  beams  of  a  consoling  and  transform- 
ing faith. 

"^"  Their  mission  in  the  "West  Indies  was  commenced  in  the  same 
year  with  that  in  GreenlaiidJ'and  "originated  in  one  of  those  slight 


86  A    VIEW    OF    EAELIER 

incidents  which  in  the  order  of  providence  are  productive  of  great 
results,  because  they  are  observed  by  minds  capable  of  viewing  com- 
mon objects  in  their  relations  to  great  truths  and  noble  pursuits. 
In  this  aspect  the  simple  faith  of  the  humble  Moravians,  apprehend- 
ing the  sublime  purposes  of  Christianity,  and  intently  seeking  the 
means  of  their  accomplishment,  bears  an  analogy  to  that  penetrating 
philosophic  insight,  which,  from  the  swinging  of  a  cathedral  lamp, 
or  the  flill  of  an  apple,  receives  suggestions  of  the  most  far-reaching 
laws  of  nature. 

Count  Zinzendorf  being  on  a  visit  to  Copenhagen  in  1731,  his 
servants  became  acquainted  with  a  negro  named  Anthony,  who 
stated  in  conversation  that  his  sister  in  the  island  of  St.  Thomas, 
with  others  of  their  unhappy  race,  felt  their  want  of  religious  instruc- 
tion, and  earnestly  desired  that  some  persons  would  impart  to  them 
the  knowledge  of  the  gospel ;  but  added  that  it  would  be  necessary 
for  those  who  attempted  it,  to  share  in  the  toils  of  those  whom  they 
taught.  On  repeating  this  at  Hernhutt,  two  young  men  immedi- 
ately offered  themselves  for  this  self-denying  service.  Their  pro- 
posal was  not  immediately  acted  on,  but,  in  the  following  year,  one 
of  them,  Leonard  Dober,  was  authorized  to  undertake  the  mission, 
and  another  of  the  brethren  named  Nitschman  was  deputed  to  bear 
him  company  on  his  voyage,  and  return  after  he  should  have  reached 
his  destination.  They  were  received  at  Copenhagen,  and  on  their 
way  thither,  by  persons  who  treated  their  purpose  as  foolishly 
romantic,  but  they  persevered,  and  soon  found  a  passage  to  St. 
Thomas,  where  they  arrived  in  December.  A  friendly  planter 
received  them  into  his  house,  and  gave  Nitschman,  who  was  a  car- 
penter, work  sufficient  to  maintain  both.  They  sought  out  Anthony's 
sister,  and  soon  had  a  number  of  eager  listeners.  But  in  four  months 
it  became  necessary  for  Nitschman  to  return,  and  Dober,  who  was 
by  trade  a  potter,  found  it  impossible  to  support  himself  by  his 
handicraft.  For  a  time  he  was  employed  as  tutor  to  the  Govern- 
or's son,  but  as  this  occupation  so  absorbed  his  time  that  he  had 
no  leisure  to  pursue  his  chosen  work,  he  gave  up  his  situation,  and 
lived  in  great  poverty,  gaining  a  scanty  subsistence  by  watching  on 
plantations  and  other  services. 

The  ravages  of  pestilence  and  an  insurrection  of  the  slaves  in 
1733  interrupted  his  work.  While  he  was  struggling  with  poverty 
and  enfeebled  in  health,  a  party  of  fourteen  brethren  arrived,  a  part 
of  them  to  conduct  this  mission,  and  the  rest  to  commence  a  new 


MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISES.  37 

one  on  the  Island  of  St.  Croix.  Dober  himself  returned  to  Hern- 
hutt,  having  been  chosen  an  elder  of  the  congregation.  But  the 
brethren  he  left  behind  unhappily  fell  victims  to  the  climate,  and  the 
enterprise  was  suspended  till  1735,  when  two  new  labourers,  Frede- 
rick Martin  and  John  Bonicke,  resumed  it.  Their  efforts  were 
crowned  with  success.  They  soon  had  a  congregation  of  two  hun- 
dred hearers,  three  of  whom  made  a  satisfactory  profession  of  their 
faith.  In  1737,  so  evidently  beneficial  were  the  results  of  their 
labours,  that  some  of  the  planters  aided  them  in  purchasing  an  estate. 

This  favour  from  the  planters  was  of  short  duration.  They  soon 
began  to  manifest  hostility  to  the  mission,  which  was  stimulated  by 
the  bigotry  of  some  ministers  of  the  reformed  church,  taking  excep- 
tion to  the  validity  of  Mr.  Martin's  orders.  The  slaves  were  forbidden 
to  meet  their  teachers,  and  flogged  for  disobedience ;  on  a  groundless 
pretence,  Mr.  Martin  and  his  assistants  were  imprisoned.  The  effect 
was  only  to  deepen  the  hold  of  their  instructions  upon  their  congre- 
gation, which  now  consisted  of  eight  hundred  persons.  At  this 
juncture.  Count  Zinzendorf  visited  the  island,  and,  struck  by  a 
measure  of  prosperity  exceeding  his  expectations,  exerted  himself 
with  success  to  procure  the  release  of  the  missionaries.  After  his 
departure,  the  persecution  was  renewed,  but  the  subject  being  pre- 
sented to  the  king  of  Denmark,  his  Majesty  sent  letters  confirming 
the  right  of  Mr.  Martin  to  preach  and  administer  the  sacraments,  an 
authentication  of  his  orders,  which,  if  not  very  apostolic  in  form, 
was  sufiicient  in  fact  to  prevent  further  opposition  on  that  score. 
From  this  time  the  mission,  and  others  in  the  West  Indies,  were 
prosecuted  with  zeal,  and  their  results  were  in  the  highest  degree 
satisfactory. 

The  missions  of  the  Brethren  in  North  America,  as  illustrations 
of  unfailing  perseverance  in  the  cause  of  Christian  benevolence,  are 
worthy  of  enduring  commemoration;  but  were  doomed  to  suffer 
continually  from  the  malign  influence  of  rapacious  civilization,  and 
the  havoc  of  almost  perpetual  war,  lending  to  them  an  aspect  of 
profound  sadness.  In  this  respect  they  exhibit,  in  a  more  extreme 
degree,  the  same  character  which  distinguished  all  early  missions 
among  the  red  men.  But  the  evil  was  much  mitigated  in  those  first 
undertaken  by  the  agency  of  the  New  England  churches,  from  causes 
inherent  in  the  foundation  of  those  colonies.  As  these  missions 
were  commenced  before  the  Moravians  entered  upon  their  work  in 
North  America,  they  demand  our  first  attention. 


38  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

Among  the  objects  contemplated  by  the  planting  of  the  Plymouth 
and  Massachusetts  Colonies,  as  avowed  by  their  founders,  and  set 
forth  in  their  charters,  the  conversion  of  the  savages  to  Christianity 
was  prominent.  Their  first  purpose  was  to  provide  an  asylum,  where, 
free  from  the  restraints  imposed  by  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  policy 
of  England,  the  Christian  church  might  be  organized  in  a  form,  as 
they  believed,  more  consonant  to  the  primitive  model,  and  the  doc- 
trines of  Christianit}^,  as  they  deduced  them  from  Scripture,  preached 
without  the  forced  admixture  of  dogmas  and  rites  imposed  by  act 
of  parliament;  their  second  was  to  make  the  aboriginal  races  par- 
ticipators of  these  blessings.  The  first  prompted  a  jealous  resistance 
to  the  introduction  of  any  adverse  opinions  or  customs,  which  was 
carried,  in  the  province  of  Massachusetts,  to  an  extreme  inconsistent 
with  the  rights  of  conscience.  The  second,  though  its  execution 
was  delayed  by  the  cares  incident  to  a  new  plantation,  commenced 
under  circumstances  of  such  peculiar  hardship  as  tried  the  endur- 
ance of  the  Pilgrims,  prompted  very  early  action.  Individuals  made 
some  exertion  to  recommend  the  gospel  to  the  natives  with  satisfac- 
tory, though  limited  results,  and  in  1686  the  colony  of  Plymouth 
enacted  a  law  to  provide  for  preaching  among  the  Indians.  A  simi- 
lar act  was  passed  in  1646,  by  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  and 
in  that  j^ear  John  Eliot,  who  had  begun  the  study  of  the  native 
language  five  years  before,  commenced  preaching  at  Nonantum,  now 
a  part  of  Newton,  He  found  attentive  and  serious  hearers;  several 
of  them  requested  admission  to  English  families,  that  they  might 
be  taught  the  Christian  religion,  and  a  large  number  offered  their 
children  for  instruction.  A  settlement  of  "praying  Indians"  was 
formed  at  Nonantum,  and  removed  to  Natick  in  1651,  and  ten  years 
later  a  church  was  organized.  But  the  labours  of  Eliot  were  not 
confined  to  this  congregation.  He  translated  the  Bible  and  several 
catechisms,  tracts  and  school-books,  into  the  Indian  language,  and 
travelled  extensively  through  the  wilderness,  with  an  energy  and 
endurance  which  well  entitled  him  to  be  called  "the  Apostle  of  the 
Indians."  He  died  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-six; — his  last  words 
were,  "Welcome joy !" 

Thomas  May  hew,  in  lG-13,  commenced  his  labours  among  the 
Indians  on  the  island  of  Martha's  Vineyard.  Three  years  after  he 
sailed  for  England  to  solicit  aid.  The  vessel  was  lost,  and  his  flither, 
Thomas  May  hew,  governor  of  the  island,  devoted  himself  at  the 
age  of  seventy  to  the  same  work.     He  laboured  for  about  twent}-- 


MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISES.  39 

three  years,  and  was  succeeded  in  his  ministry  by  his  grandson. 
Five  generations  of  the  family  kept  up  the  pastoral  succession  among 
the  Indians  of  that  island,  until  1803.  In  the  Plymouth  colony  a 
congregation  was  early  gathered  at  Marshpee  by  Eev.  Kichard 
Bourn,  who  laboured  forty  years  in  this  and  neighbouring  towns 
and  villages.  Others  worthy  of  commemoration  participated  in  the 
enterprise,  and  in  1675  there  were  fourteen  settlements  of  Christian 
Indians  with  a  total  population  of  3,600,  twenty-four  regular  con- 
gregations, and  twenty-four  Indian  preachers.  With  Christianity 
they  were  instructed  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life.  They  addicted 
themselves  to  agriculture,  were  characterized  by  orderly  and  indus- 
trious habits,  sustained  schools,  and  observed  a  high  standard  of 
social  morals.  These  results  awakened  a  missionary  spirit  in  Eng- 
land. A  society  was  organized  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity 
in  North  America,  and  raised  a  fund  yielding  £500,  which  was 
applied  to  the  circulation  of  the  Bible  and  the  support  of  missiona- 
ries. The  formation  of  the  Society  for  promoting  Christian  Knowl- 
edge by  members  of  the  church  of  England,  in  1698,  is  ascribed  by 
Bishop  Burnet  to  a  spirit  of  emulation  aroused  by  the  example  of 
the  non-conformists.  Other  societies  followed,  so  that  New  England 
may  be  said  to  have  received  the  rays  of  the  morning  star,  that 
heralded  the  dawn  of  that  day  of  missions  whose  ascendant  now 
illumines  the  church. 

The  year  1675  was  signalized  by  the  commencement  of  "King 
Philip's  war."  Philip  of  Pokanoket.  having  resolved  on  the  exter- 
mination of  all  the  Europeans,  made  a  general  league  of  the  several 
tribes,  in  which  he  naturally  sought  the  aid  of  the  Christian  Indians. 
There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  any  considerable  number  of  them 
engaged  with  him,  but  they  were  suspected,  and  naturally  suffered 
from  both  parties.  Some  were  slain  by  the  hostile  tribes,  some  fell 
by  the  arms  of  the  colonists,  who  were  not  always  careful  to  dis- 
criminate between  the  converted  natives  and  the  mass  of  their 
heathen  compatriots,  whom  a  portion  of  the  settlers  regarded  much 
as  the  children  of  Israel  did  the  Canaanites.  The  authorities  of 
Massachusetts  in  order  to  their  protection  gathered  them  into  five 
towns,  and  five  hundred  were  collected  on  Deer  Island  and  other 
islands  in  the  Bay.  At  the  close  of  the  war  they  found  their  settle- 
ments wasted,  their  fields  ravaged,  their  hopes  blasted,  and  discour- 
agement settled  upon  them,  from  which  they  never  fully  recovered. 
Yet  the  work  did  not  cease.     In  1685  there  were  1,439  "praying 


40  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

Indians"  in  the  colony  of  *  Plymouth.  In  1698,  out  of  4,168,  the 
whole  number  of  Indians  reckoned  within  the  now  united  provinces 
of  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts,  3,000  were  said  to  be  converted, 
and  there  were  thirty  Indian  churches.  Their  pagan  countrymen 
had  been  mostly  either  exterminated  in  the  war,  or  absorbed  in 
more  distant  tribes. 

In  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island,  the  determined  opposition  of 
the  great  sachems  prevented  the  general  introduction  of  Christianity 
among  the  Pequots,  Narragansetts,  and  other  tribes  within  their 
borders,  yet  the  efforts  of  benevolent  men  were  not  wholly  in  vain. 
Before  the  breaking  out  of  Philip's  war,  over  forty  Christian  Indians 
were  gathered  at  Norwich,  Ct.,  but  for  some  years  little  progress 
was  made.  In  1743,  under  the  preaching  of  Eev.  Mr.  Parks,  in 
Westerl}^,  R.  I.,  a  considerable  awakening  occurred,  which  resulted 
in  the  conversion  of  sixty,  and  in  a  few  years  there  were  enumerated 
about  seventy  pious  persons  among  the  Narragansetts,  twenty  or 
thirty  among  the  Mohecans,  fifteen  or  sixteen  among  the  Moutauks 
of  Long  Island,  and  a  considerable  number  scattered  among  the 
Stonington  and  several  other  tribes. 

The  mission  at  Stockbridge  was  commenced  in  1734  by  Eev.  John 
Sergeant,  then  tutor  in  Yale  college.  He  collected  about  fifty  of 
the  wandering  Mohecans  at  that  place  into  a  tribe  now  known  as 
the  Stockbridge  Indians,  and  commenced  preaching  to  them  with 
marked  success.  He  organized  a  school,  the  provincial  government 
built  a  meeting-house  and  school-house,  and  a  town  was  commenced 
of  houses  in  the  English  style.  He  translated  the  New-Testament 
and  a  part  of  the  Old,  with  other  religious  books,  and  had  just  formed 
a  project  for  a  manual  labour  school,  towards  the  endowment  of 
v\'hich  Mr.  Hollis,  the  munificent  benefactor  of  Harvard  College, 
made  a  liberal  donation,  when  his  course  ended.  He  died  in  1749, 
greatly  beloved  and  revered  by  his  flock.  He  had  done  much  for 
them.  He  found  them  wretchedly  degraded,  ignorant  and  outcast, 
with  no  fixed  habitations,  with  the  prospect  of  speedy  extinction ; — 
he  left  a  thriving  settlement  of  two  hundred  and  eighteen  inhabitants, 
enjoying  the  comforts  of  civilized  society  and  the  blessings  of  Chris- 
tianity. His  associate,  Mr.  Woodbridge,  continued  in  the  charge 
of  the  mission  till  his  death,  not  long  after,  when  Jonathan  Edwards 
was  placed  at  its  head.  Edwards  laboured  six  years,  with  satisfac- 
tion, but  without  very  decisive  success;  the  works  which  occupied 
his  leisure — his  great  treatises  on  the  Will  and  on  Orioinal  Sin — con- 


MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISES.  '41 

stitute  the  most  substantial  and  enduring  fruit  of  that  memorable 
period  of  his  life.  The  mission  was  continued  till  the  Revolution 
by  Mr.  West  and  Mr.  Sergeant,  son  of  its  founder.  After  the  war 
the  tribe  removed  to  Central  New-York ;  thence  by  successive  emi- 
grations they  settled  in  Indiana,  in  Michigan,  and  finally  in  their 
present  home  on  lake  Winnebago,  their  church  meanwhile  coming 
under  the  supervision  of  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions.* 

In  1743  began  the  short  but  glorious  missionary  career  of  David 
Brainard.  He  was  born  at  Haddam,  Ct.,  in  the  year  1718, 
was  subject  to  profound  religious  impressions  in  his  youth,  and 
early  fixed  on  the  ministry  as  his  profession,  but  dated  his  actual 
conversion  in  1739,  in  which  year  he  entered  Yale  College.  In 
1741  the  general  religious  awakening  that  spread  over  New  England 
in  connection  with  the  labours  of  Edwards,  Whitefield,  and  others 
who  partook  of  their  spirit,  extended  to  the  college.  The  ardent 
and  sometimes  intemperate  zeal,  and  censorious  temper,  that  charac- 
terized not  a  little  of  the  preaching  common  at  that  time, — and  that 
such  an  excitement,  however  pure  its  origin,  would  naturally  gener- 
ate,— was  not  without  its  effect  on  Brainard.  In  him,  however,  it  did 
not,  so  far  as  is  authentically  recorded,  lead  to  any  open  or  scandal- 
ous indecorum,  and  the  penalty  he  paid  for  it  was  ever  regarded 
by  himself,  and  it  would  seem  must  be  justly  considered  by  all,  as 
utterly  disproportionate  to  the  offence.  In  the  presence  of  two  or 
three  of  his  fellows  he  remarked  of  one  of  the  tutors,  "He  has  no 
more  grace  than  this  chair."  Some  ofl&cious  person,  who  overheard 
the  observation,  repeated  it,  adding  his  belief  that  the  words  were 
uttered  concerning  one  of  the  governors  of  the  college.  The  mattei 
was  taken  up,  Brainard  was  arraigned  and  examined  of  his  offence, 
and  his  companions  required  to  disclose  the  facts.  Their  plea  that 
it  was  a  private  conversation  was  overruled,  and  the  whole  wrung 
from  them.  For  this  hasty  speech  and  the  misdemeanour  of  once 
attending  the  "separate  meeting"  in  the  town  without  leave,  he  was 
expelled  from  the  college. 

He  engaged  soon  after  in  the  study  of  divinity  with  Rev.  Mr. 
Mills  of  Ripton,  and  on  concluding  his  theological  course  was  selected 
by  the  New-York  committee  of  the  Scottish  Society  for  promoting 
Christian  Knowledge,  as  a  missionary  to  the  Indians.     His  original 

*  Since  the  above  was  written,  it  is  stated  that  they  have  made  still  another 
removal,  to  lands  in  the  territory  of  Minnesota. 


42  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

destination  was  New-Jersey,  but  some  difficulties  among  the  Indians 
in  tliat  region,  unfavourable  to  evangelical  labour  there,  led  to  a 
postponement  of  that  project,  and  accordingly  he  commenced  his 
labours  near  New  Lebanon  Springs,  N.  Y.,  at  a  place  called  by 
the  Indians  Kaunameek,  where  he  spent  a  year,  enduring  great 
privations,  and  enfeebled  by  illness.  He  acquired  the  language, 
translated  some  of  the  psalms,  composed  forms  of  prayer,  and  with 
the  aid  of  an  interpreter  superintended  a  school.  He  was  able  to 
impart  such  a  measure  of  religious  instruction  as  to  effect  a  decided 
moral  improvement  in  the  Indians,  and  to  awaken  a  spirit  of  anxious 
inquiry  for  the  way  of  salvation.  They  earnestly  desired  him  to 
remain  with  them,  but  he  was  now  sent  to  the  place  of  his  original 
destination  in  New-Jersey  and  Pennsylvania,  leaving  his  people  at 
Kaunameek  to  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Sergeant  at  Stockbridge,  where 
most  of  them  removed. 

Mr.  Brainard  now  stationed  himself  at  the  Forks  of  the  Delaware, 
with  the  design  of  labouring  in  the  northern  part  of  New-Jersey 
and  Pennsylvania  as  far  as  the  Susquehanna.  His  first  efforts  at 
this  station  were  far  from  encouraging.  The  number  of  Indians  had 
been  considerably  diminished  in  the  vicinity,  and  his  hearers  were 
few,  but  he  pursued  his  work  with  diligence.  Among  others  he 
visited  some  Indians  about  thirty  miles  distant,  but  had  only  two 
opportunities  of  preaching  to  them  before  they  removed  to  the  banks 
of  the  Susquehanna,  where  he  visited  them  at  their  request,  and 
remained  with  them  several  days.  The  following  spring  he  repeated 
his  visit,  encountering  in  his  journey  great  perils  and  hardships. 
On  his  arrival  he  spent  a  fortnight  travelling  nearly  a  hundred  miles 
along  the  river,  and  preaching  with  various  success;  but  in  conse- 
quence of  his  exposures  in  the  wilderness,  was  seized  with  a  severe 
and  dangerous  illness.  On  returning  to  his  own  abode,  he  found 
himself  so  enfeebled  in  body  and  desponding  in  spirit,  that  he  was 
inclined  to  abandon  the  work,  but  subsequent  events  renewed  his 
energies. 

Having  received  intelligence  of  some  Indians  at  Crossweeksung, 
about  twenty  miles  from  Amboy,  towards  Bordentown,  N.  J., 
which  opened  a  prospect  of  usefulness  there,  he  visited  them  in  June, 
1745.  The  first  view  of  this  field  was  far  from  promising.  The 
natives  were  widely  scattered,  and  his  first  congregation  consisted 
only  of  four  women  and  a  few  children.  But  they  were  so  much 
interested  in  what  they  heard  as  to  set  off  immediately  a  distance 


MISSIONAEY    ENTERPRISES.  43 

of  ten  or  twelve  miles  to  invite  their  friends,  and  his  audience  soon 
amounted  to  more  than  forty.  They  had  been  indifferent,  if  not 
hostile  to  Christianity,  but  now  all  seemed  desirous  of  hearing  the 
truth,  and  invited  him  to  preach  twice  a  day  that  they  might  gain 
the  utmost  profit  from  his  visit.  He  shortly  had  the  happiness  of 
witnessing  the  conversion  of  the  interpreter  and  his  wife,  both  of 
whom  gave  the  fullest  proof  of  their  pious  sincerity,  and  the  former 
was  particularly  useful  as  an  assistant.  On  his  second  visit  to  Cross- 
weeksung  he  found  as  the  result  of  his  previous  labours  and  those  of 
Eev.  William  Tennant,  who  had  preached  there  in  the  interim,  a 
remarkable  spirit  of  inquiry  and  intense  conviction  of  the  truth.  An 
awakening  followed,  characterized  by  all  those  evidences  of  divine 
power  which  distinguished  the  revivals  under  Edwards  and  White- 
field.  He  remained  there  a  month,  and  fifteen  adults  made  profes- 
sion of  their  faith. 

Some  Indians  from  the  Forks  of  the  Delaware,  who  had  been 
present,  and  witnessed  these  events,  were  much  impressed  by  them, 
so  that  on  his  return  to  that  place  he  found  new  encouragement  to 
labour  for  their  salvation.  Thence  he  revisited  the  banks  of  the 
Susquehanna,  but  though  he  found  some  attentive  listeners,  he  had 
no  special  success. 

His  third  visit  to  Crossweeksung  was  marked  by  the  same  satis- 
factory results  as  he  had  previously  witnessed.  His  preaching  was 
with  great  power,  and  its  fruits  were  precious.  He  commenced  a 
catechetical  exercise,  and  in  1746  a  school  for  Indian  children  under  a 
competent  and  faithful  teacher  was  begun.  Measures  were  taken  to 
form  the  people  to  habits  of  regular  industry,  and  to  secure  to  them 
their  lands,  the  possession  of  which  their  former  habits  had  endan- 
gered. A  regular  settlement  was  formed  at  Cranberry,  fifteen  miles 
distant,  land  was  cleared,  and  in  about  a  year  they  had  eighty  acres 
of  ground  under  profitable  cultivation.  A  church  was  organized,  and 
twenty-three  received  the  communion, — the  absence  of  a  considerable 
number  unavoidably  deferring  their  admission  to  the  sacrament. 

But  the  zeal  of  Brainard  was  greater  than  his  feeble  frame  could 
sustain.  Another  journey  to  the  Susquehanna  tried  his  powers  of 
endurance  to  the  utmost.  On  his  return  he  administered  the  Lord's 
Supper  to  his  church,  now  numbering  nearly  forty  members,  and  at 
the  close  of  the  service  found  himself  scarcely  able  to  walk.  He 
still  attempted  to  labour,  and  even  addressed  his  flock  from  his  bed. 
In  November  he  was  compelled  to  leave  them,  and  travelled  leisurely 


44  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

to  Northampton,  where  he  was  received  into  the  family  of  President 
Edwards.  He  lingered  in  a  consumption  till  the  9th  of  October, 
1747,  and  then  entered  into  rest  in  the  thirtieth  year  of  his  age. 
The  record  of  his  life  by  Edwards  held  up  his  career  to  the  admira- 
tion of  the  Christian  world,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the 
missionary  devotion  of  William  Carey  and  Henry  Martyn,  was 
nourished,  if  not  kindled,  by  the  contemplation  of  his  brief  but 
triumphant  course. 

His  bereaved  flock  was  placed  in  charge  of  his  brother,  John 
Brainard,  who  died  in  1783.  Under  his  ministry  the  congregation 
increased  to  two  hundred.  His  successor  was  Daniel  Simmons,  an 
Indian,  who  soon  proved  himself  unworthy  of  the  trust,  and  was 
deposed  for  his  irregular  conduct.  The  mission  was  supplied  with 
occasional  preaching  by  neighbouring  pastors,  and  ultimately,  the 
congregation  being  reduced  to  eighty-five,  was  absorbed  in  the 
Stockbridge  tribe. 

The  first  North  American  settlement  of  the  Moravian  Brethren 
was  in  Georgia,  in  1735,  where  they  commenced  preaching  to  the 
Creeks,  but  the  breaking  out  of  war  with  the  Spaniards  in  Florida, 
compelled  them  to  desert  their  plantations,  and  retire  into  Pennsyl- 
vania. In  1740,  Christian  Henry  Eauch  arrived  at  New-York,  and 
soon  stationed  himself  at  Shekomeko,  an  Indian  town  on  the  bor- 
der of  Connecticut.  Here  his  preaching  resulted  in  the  conversion 
of  some  of  the  savages,  but  the  whites  in  the  neighbourhood,  who 
had  no  desire  for  the  improvement  of  the  Indians,  instigated  some 
of  them  by  slanderous  reports  to  attempt  the  life  of  their  teacher. 
His  meekness  and  evident  benevolence  soon  dissipated  the  effects  of 
these  machinations,  and  his  labours  were  resumed  with  success. 
Count  Zinzendorf,  in  visiting  the  several  American  stations,  came 
to  Shekomeko  in  1742,  and  witnessed  the  gathering  of  the  first 
fruits  of  the  mission  by  a  public  profession  of  faith.  Additional 
missionaries  arrived  soon  after.  Indians  came  from  a  distance  of 
twenty  miles  to  hear  the  word,  which  was  with  power.  Early  in 
1743,  ten  were  admitted  to  the  communion,  a  chapel  was  erected, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  year  the  number  of  credible  believers  was 
sixty-three. 

But  the  class  of  settlers  who  made  gain  by  the  vices  of  the 
Indians,  were  determined  to  uproot  the  mission.  Other  means  failing, 
they  raised  a  panic  by  representing  the  Christian  Indians  and  their 


MISSIOISTAEY    ENTEEPRISES.  45 

teachers  as  in  league  with  the  French.  At  that  time,  such  an  alarm 
was  all  too  powerful  to  admit  of  calm  and  reasonable  measures.  The 
brethren  were  harassed  bj  prosecutions.  They  were  acquitted,  but 
acts  were  passed  imposing  the  oath  of  allegiance  on  "suspected  per- 
sons,"— and  suspicion  was  never  wanting, — till  in  1746  the  legisla- 
ture prohibited  them  from  imparting  religious  instruction  to  the 
Indians.  The  settlement  was  broken  up,  and  its  scattered  members 
took  refuge  from  persecution  in  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania,  near  which 
they  succeeded  iii  founding  a  new  town  named  Gnadenhutten^  or 
Tents  of  Grace.  Here  for  several  years  they  enjoyed  prosperity, 
and  the  congregation  increased  to  five  hundred  persons.  The  fruits 
of  piety  were  exhibited  in  a  well-ordered,  industrious  community, 
attentive  to  the  education  of  children,  and  forming  a  centre  from 
which  the  truth  was  radiated  far  into  the  surrounding  wilderness. 
But  in  1752  the  Iroquois,  having  allied  themselves  with  the  French, 
as  it  afterwards  appeared,  and  desirous  of  attacking  the  whites  in 
their  neighbourhood,  demanded  their  removal.  A  part  complied, 
but  their  number  was  made  up  by  other  settlers.  Their  peace,  how- 
ever, was  of  short  duration.  In  1755  their  settlement  was  attacked, 
several  of  the  missionaries  were  murdered,  their  buildings  burned 
and  fields  ravaged.  Most  of  the  congregation  escaped  the  fate 
intended  for  them,  and  found  shelter  at  Bethlehem.  During  the 
continuance  of  the  war,  they  found  little  molestation,  though  kept 
in  constant  alarm  by  threats  of  hostility  from  the  savages,  who  were 
indignant  that  they  would  not  take  up  arms  against  the  English, 
and  from  the  colonists,  who  affected  to  believe  them  in  league  with 
the  French. 

The  return  of  peace  brought  no  peace  to  the  Christian  Indians. 
Men,  greedy  to  exterminate  the  whole  race  from  the  continent, 
availed  themselves  of  every  excuse  to  attack  them.  If  an  outrage 
was  committed  by  savages,  it  was  at  once  sought  to  be  avenged  on 
the  Moravian  settlements.  They  were  threatened  with  a  conspiracy 
in  1763,  which  aimed  at  no  less  than  their  entire  destruction.  The 
government  compelled  them  to  give  up  their  arms,  and  removed 
them  to  Philadelphia.  Blind  popular  rage  was  roused  against  them 
to  such  a  degree  that  it  was  necessary  to  protect  their  lives  by  an 
armed  force.  The  governor  attempted  to  send  them  to  New- York, 
to  put  them  under  guard  of  the  British  army,  but  the  governor  of 
New- York  forbade  their  coming  into  that  province.  They  were 
brought  back  to  Philadelphia,  and  lodged  in  barracks.     Here  they 


46  A    VIEW    OF    EAELIER 

remained  for  more  than  a  year,  their  numbers  thinned  bj  the  small- 
pox, at  the  expiration  of  which  time,  all  the  charges  so  industriously 
circulated  against  them  having  been  proved  groundless,  thej  were 
assigned  a  tract  of  land  on  the  Susquehanna.     Here  they  made  a 
new  settlement,  which  they  called  Friedsnshutten,  or  Tents  of  Peace. 
A  large  congregation  was  soon  gathered,  whose  reception  of  the 
truth  amply  rewarded  the  zeal  and  patience   of  the  missionaries- 
Another  station,  named  Friedenstadt,  or  the  Town  of  Peace,  was 
made  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  at  the  junction  of  Beaver  Creek, 
and  to  this,  in  consequence  of  the  treachery  of  the  Iroquois  in  con- 
veying to  the  English  the  lands  before  sold  to  the  brethren,  the 
settlers  at  Friedenshutten  were  compelled  to  remove.    A  town  named 
Shoenhrvnn^  or  Beautiful  Spring,  was  also  founded  on  the  Musking- 
2<swAuiivh_ani,  and  soon  after  another  was  commenced  about  ten  miles  below, 
^^-^"//inamed  Gnadenhutten.      Occasional  hostilities  disquieted  them,  but 
r,Jrt^^  '*  >~  their  character  made  them  many  friends,  and  they  were  encouraged 
A'f^     to  build  a  third  town.     So  successfal  were  their  labours,  that  in 
J^jIj^j  1776  there  were  four  hundred  and  fourteen  Christian  Indians  on  the 
rtirtt  w^Muskingham. 

tt«i  V^       The  breaking  out  of  the  revolutionary  war  exposed  them  to  the 

^  Z^     same  jealous  hostility  that  had  proved  so  fatal  in  the  war  of  1755. 

The  Indians  of  the  northwest  were  allied  with  Great  Britain.     The 

neutrality  of  the  Moravians  caused  each  party  to  suspect  them  of 

favouring   the   other,  and  they  were   alternately  threatened  with 

destruction  by  both.     In  1781  the  British  commander  at  Detroit  sent 

a  force  that  removed  them  to  the  Sandusky  river,  and  then  left  them 

in  the  wilderness,  w^here  they  suffered  greatly  from  famine.     A  por- 

t<u,  (j^vt-tion  who  had  been  sent  as  prisoners  to  Pittsburgh,  returned  to  their 

J^^^  "former  home.     They  were  followed  by  a  band  of  ruffians,  who  pre- 

f.vw  /wJ  tended  to  a  fanatical  belief  that  it  was  their  religious  duty  to  exter- 

4,tv,J  *^  minate  the  Indians.     Warning  was  sent  to  their  victims,  but  too 

^b*    1^^6-     T1^6  Indians  were  told  by  their  treacherous  enemies  that  they 

^'  should  be  conducted  in  safety  to  Pittsburgh,  where  they  would  be 

protected  from  all  harm.    When  they  had  given  up  their  arms,  they 

were  ordered  to  prepare  for  death  the  next  day.     They  spent  the 

night  in  singing,  prayer  and  exhortation,  and  on  the  following  morn- 

v*utfu^  ing  were  butchered  in  cold  blood,  only  two  escaping.    The  murderers 

'"*      '     then  proceeded  to  Sandusky,  but  their  intended  prey  had  escaped. 

The  missionaries  had  been  removed  by  the  British  commander,  and 

held  as  prisoners  at  Detroit,  while  their  people  were  scattered. 


MISSIONAEY    ENTEEPPwISES.  47 

The  Bretliren  were  now  advised  to  relinquish  their  labours,  but  no 
persuasion  could  induce  them  to  separate  their  lot  from  the  people 
for  whom  they  had  already  endured  so  much.  Repeated  attempts 
were  made  to  renew  their  settlements  in  different  places,  and  finally 
the  remnant  of  their  flock  found  a  shelter  in  Canada  West,  where  a 
small  congregation  has  been  preserved,  a  record  as  well  of  the  per- 
sistent zeal  of  its  founders,  as  of  the  unchristian  spirit  that  reigned 
among  the  European  colonists,  and  characterized  much  of  their  con- 
duct towards  the  unhappy  aborigines. 

The  settlements  on  the  Muskingham"  were  renewed  at  the  close  of  y^^^oiA. 
the  revolutionary  war,  and  for  a  time  were  continued  with  a  nieas- ^^/x  ^g,-^ 
ure  of  success.  But  the  Indians  were  fast  melting  away  before  the 
progress  of  the  whites,  and  their  last  settlement  in  the  north-western 
United  States  was  relinquished  in  1822.  A  mission  to  the  Chero- 
kees  is  still  maintained,  but  those  since  founded  by  the  American 
churches  cast  it  comparatively  into  the  shade. 

A  complete  view  of  Indian  missions  in  North  America,  would 
not  fail  to  include  at  least  a  passing  notice  of  Dr.  Wheelock's  Semi- 
nary for  the  education  of  Indians  and  of  missionaries,- — founded  in 
1748,  at  Lebanon,  Ct.,  and  afterwards  removed  to  Hanover,  N.  H..' — 
an  institution  sometimes  confounded  with  Dartmouth  College;  of 
the  life  and  usefulness  of  Eev.  Samson  Occum,  distinguished  as  an 
effective  Indian  preacher;  of  the  forty  years'  ministry  of  Kirkland, 
among  the  Indians  of  New- York ;  and  of  others  who  did  their  part 
toward  the  rescue  of  the  aboriginal  tribes  from  the  fate  which  uni- 
formly overtakes  savages  when  brought  into  conflict  with  civiliza- 
tion, unless  it  is  arrested  by  the  conservative  force  of  Christianity. 
The  proper  effect  of  these  benevolent  efforts  was  greatly  impaired 
by  the  vices  and  rapacity  of  the  European  settlers,  few  of  whom 
seem  to  have  been  at  all  under  the  restraints  of  justice  or  charity  in 
their  conduct  towards  the  red  men,  and  by  the  wars  in  which 
European  policy  involved  the  colonies.  But  that  any  remnants  of 
the  once  powerful  tribes  formerly  inhabiting  the  country  east  of  the 
Alleghanies  have  been  preserved,  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  elevating 
influences  of  Christianity,  imparted  by  those  devoted  men  whose 
labours  have  been  reviewed,  sustained  by  active  charity  in  Europe 
and  America. 

The  missions  of  the  Moravian  Brethren  in  South  America  were 
commenced  in  1738.     A.  gentleman  in  Amsterdam  invited  some  of 


48  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

them  to  settle  on  one  of  his  plantations  in  Berbice,  Dutcli  Guiana, 
for  the  instruction  of  his  slaves.  Messrs.  DjBhne  and  Guettner  com- 
plied with  the  request,  but  were  hindered  from  accomplishing  the 
object  of  their  mission  by  the  hostility  of  the  stewards  and  man- 
agers of  the  estates.  As  the  congregation  at  Hernhutt  were  unable 
to  support  their  missionaries,  and  no  favour  was  shown  them  at  the 
scene  of  their  intended  labours,  they  were  compelled  to  maintain 
themselves  by  constant  toil,  while  the  slaves  were  tasked  with  such 
severity  as  to  allow  them  no  time  in  which  to  receive  instruction. 
At  length  they  were  presented  with  a  tenement  and  a  small  tract  of 
land  in  the  interior.  In  default  of  opportunities  to  instruct  the 
slaves,  they  gained  the  confidence  of  some  Indians  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  communicated  to  them  the  truths  of  the  gospel.  The 
mission  was  reinforced  from  Europe,  and  the  work  was  pursued  with 
energy  and  perseverance.  In  1748  thirty-nine  converts  had  been 
gained,  who  erected  their  huts  in  the  vicinity  of  the  station.  The 
Indians  from  other  parts  of  the  country  came  for  instruction,  and 
the  missionaries  were  greatly  encouraged. 

But  the  government  became  jealous  of  their  proceedings,  and 
determined  to  arrest  them.  The  Christian  Indians  were  forbidden 
to  settle  at  the  station,  and  the  missionaries  were  compelled  to  pay 
a  tax  for  each  of  them,  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  to  bear 
arms.  Some  of  them,  rather  than  submit  to  such  vexatious  requi- 
sitions, returned  to  Europe,  but  the  others  resolved  to  adhere  to 
their  congregation,  which  in  1756  amounted  to  nearly  three  hun- 
dred persons.  Pestilence  and  famine  blighted  their  harvest,  so  that 
in  three  years  the  station  was  comparatively  deserted,  and,  in  1763, 
in  consequence  of  an  insurrection  of  the  slaves,  the  mission  was 
broken  up,  and  the  brethren  retired  from  the  field. 

A  settlement  was  begun  in  1739,  on  the  Sarameca  river  in  Suri- 
nam, which  they  called  /Sharon,  but  before  any  decisive  steps  could 
be  taken  for  the  propagation  of  the  truth,  dissensions  among  the 
settlers  led  to  its  abandonment.  It  was  renewed  in  1756,  and  very 
pleasing  success  attended  their  endeavours,  but  in  1761  a  company 
of  Bushmen,  as  the  numerous  fugitive  slaves  in  the  wilderness  were 
termed,  jealous  of  the  Indians  who  had  been  formerly  employed  to 
recapture  them,  resolved  to  disperse  the  settlement.  The  attack 
was  made  as  the  congregation  were  returning  from  worship,  three 
Indians  were  killed,  eleven  made  prisoners,  the  remainder  with  their 
teachers  were  scattered,  and  their  dwellings  plundered.     Though 


MISSIONARY    EXTERPRISES.  49 

]iiany  returned,  and  the  mission  was  prosecuted  for  some  years,  yet 
it  never  recovered  from  tlie  calamity.  Tlie  Indians  still  feared  their 
implacable  enemies,  their  number  gradually  declined,  and  the  place 
was  finally  abandoned  in  1779. 

Contemporaneously  with  the  settlement  of  Sharon,  Mr.  L.  C. 
Difihne  established  himself  on  the  Corentyn.  The  Indians  who 
accompanied  him  and  aided  in  clearing  the  land,  soon  deserted  him, 
and  he  was  left  alone  in  the  midst  of  the  wilderness  for  two  years, 
exposed  to  serpents  and  wild  beasts,  and  to  the  violence  of  savages 
who  threatened  his  life.  A  company  of  fifty  Caribs  came  armed 
on  one  occasion,  and  surrounded  his  dwelling.  His  mild  address 
and  frank  demeanour  disarmed  their  hostility,  and  they  left  him  with 
many  expressions  of  friendship.  He  was  joined  by  three  other  mis- 
sionaries in  1759,  and  by  some  Christian  Indians  from  other  settle- 
ments, and  it  was  not  long  before  they  began  to  reap  some  fruit  of 
their  labours.  The  slave  insurrection  of  1763  caused  a  temporary 
suspension  of  the  mission,  and  on  the  restoration  of  quiet  a  new  sta- 
tion was  founded  twenty  miles  up  the  river,  which  they  called  Hope. 
The  sentiment  which  suggested  this  name  was  justified  by  the  event. 
Slowly  but  certainly  they  were  enabled  to  go  forward,  a  school  was 
established,  and  at  the  close  of  1793  upwards  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  inhabitants  were  collected  at  the  station,  and  about  one  hundred 
Christian  Indians  resided  in  the  neighbourhood.  Disease  and  fam- 
ine sent  many  of  the  heathen  Indians  to  Hope,  and  in  1799  about 
three  hundred  resided  there.  Their  number  was  soon  after  reduced 
one-half  by  small-pox  and  other  causes.  In  1806  the  whole  settle- 
ment was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  this  calamity  was  followed  by  an 
epidemic  which  swept  off  nearly  all  the  members  of  the  church. 
The  rest  of  the  congregation  became  disaffected',  and  the  settlement 
was  deserted.  Here  ended  the  efforts  of  the  brethren  among  the 
aborigines  in  Guiana.  They  had  been  rewarded  by  substantial 
though  limited  success,  but  the  evils  incident  to  a  colonial  state, 
aggravated  by  the  effects  of  slavery,  had  proved  too  strong  for  them. 
The  jealousy  of  races,  heightened  by  that  of  caste,  and  inflamed  by 
mutual  Avrongs,  exposed  them  to  continued  hostility  from  opposite 
quarters,  so  that  one  station  after  another  was  founded,  flourished 
for  a  time,  and  was  deserted.  Greater  and  more  permanent  results 
followed  their  labours  among  the  African  race.  The  Bush  negroes 
rejected  the  truth,  though  it  was  faithfully  preached  among  them  for 
nearl}^  forty  years.  During  that  period  not  more  than  fifty-six  per- 
4 


50  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

sons  professed  to  believe  the  gospel,  and  the  enterprise  was  abandoned 
in  1810.  But  among  the  slaves  Christianity  made  more  satisfactory 
progress. 

The  original  design  of  the  Moravian  brethren  in  attempting  their 
missions  in  South  America,  was  to  benefit  the  slaves,  but  the  inhab 
itants  were  strongly  prejudiced  against  them,  and  they  were  not 
permitted  to  take  any  immediate  steps  for  the  accomplishment  of 
their  benevolent  purpose.  But  Christian  Kersten  and  a  few  others 
who  engaged  in  business  at  Paramaribo,  neglected  no  opportunity 
to  instruct  such  negroes  as  they  hired.  In  no  long  time,  three  of 
them  gave  evidence  that  the  truth  had  wrought  with  transforming 
energy  upon  their  hearts.  By  degrees  the  missionaries  lived  down 
the  prejudices  that  had  so  long  obstructed  their  efforts.  In  1776 
several  negroes  were  admitted  to  a  public  profession,  a  church  was 
soon  after  erected  and  a  congregation  gathered,  numbering  in  1779 
more  than  a  hundred  persons.  During  the  war  between  England 
and  Holland  that  followed  in  the  wake  of  the  French  revolution, 
the  mission  was  cut  off  from  all  communication  with  Europe,  and 
prevented  from  receiving  any  of  the  succour  which  they  so  much 
needed.  Yet  though  few  in  numbers,  they  had  large  resources  of 
feith  and  patience,  the  exercise  of  which  had  its  reward.  In  1803 
their  converts  numbered  three  hundred  and  fifteen,  not  including 
catechumens  and  other  attendants  on  public  worship.  The  church 
made  a  gradual  but  steady  progress  in  numbers  and  in  moral  eleva- 
tion for  twenty  years.  In  1820  they  numbered  a  congregation  at 
Paramaribo  of  over  nine  hundred  persons,  of  whom  seven  hundred 
and  twenty-two  were  communicants;  and  counting  those  not  imme- 
diately connected  with  the  town  congregation  there  were  in  all  115-1 
negroes  under  their  care.  Their  visits  were  extended  to  the  neigh- 
bouring plantations  with  much  profit,  and  the  celebration  in  1827 
of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  gathering  of  their  first  converts, 
was  an  occasion  of  great  solemnity  and  public  gratitude. 

The  Moravian  mission  in  Labrador  was  naturally  suggested  by 
the  conjecture  that  the  Esquimaux  were  nearly  allied  to  the  Green- 
landers.  The  rigorous  climate,  scanty  subsistence,  and  numerous 
"perils  of  waters"  and  storms  which  they  must  encounter  in  such 
an  enterprise,  were  not  likely  to  daunt  a  people  who  had  planted  and 
sustained  with  such  persevering  energy  the  mission  in  Greenland, 
and  to  whom  neither  poLar  snows  nor  tropic  heats  had  terrors  suffi- 
cient to  shake  their  benevolent  purposes.     In  1754,  four  missionaries 


MISSIONAEY    ENTERPRISES.  51 

sailed  in  a  trading  vessel,  and  fixed  on  a  spot  for  their  future  resi- 
dence. The  vessel  proceeding  northward,  Christian  Erhardt,  one 
of  the  brethren,  went  in  an  open  boat  to  converse  with  the  natives, 
but  himself  and  the  mariners  were  murdered,  and  the  crew  being 
now  inadequate  to  the  safe  navigation  of  the  ship,  the  missionaries 
were  obliged  to  lend  their  aid,  and  return  to  Europe,  abandoning 
their  errand.  Twelve  years  after,  Jens  Hoven,  who  had  been  a 
missionary  in  Greenland,  determined  on  another  effort  to  introduce 
Christianity  among  the  Esquimaux.  On  arriving  in  Labrador  he 
was  kindly  received  by  the  chiefs,  and  addressing  them  in  the 
language  of  Greenland  found  himself  understood  by  them.  He  dis- 
closed his  errand  and  after  a  series  of  friendly  interviews  took  his 
leave,  promising  to  return  with  some  of  his  brethren.  The  next 
year  he  again  visited  them  with  three  associates.  For  a  considerable 
time  they  preached  with  earnestness,  but  were  received  with  such 
indifference,  and  even  distrust,  that  the  enterprise  was  abandoned. 

At  length,  in  1771,  a  company  of  fourteen  persons  set  out  with 
the  resolution  of  making  still  another  effort  for  the  salvation  of  the 
degraded  Esquimaux,  and  founded  a  settlement  which  they  called 
Nain.  They  gained  the  confidence  of  the  people,  but  saw  no  imme- 
diate fruit  of  their  instructions.  The  first  clear  ray  of  light  that 
broke  upon  them  was  the  hopeful  conversion  of  a  ferocious  and  des- 
perate man,  who  heard  their  preaching  during  the  ensuing  year,  and 
pitched  his  tent  at  Nain  for  the  purpose  of  being  taught  the  way  of 
life  more  perfectly.  Still  he  had  given  no  decisive  evidence  of  piety 
when  he  left  them  in  the  autumn.  But  in  February,  1773,  his  wife 
came  to  Nain,  bringing  the  intelligence  that  he  had  died  "rejoicing 
in  hope."  She  related  that  on  his  first  seizure  with  the  illness  that 
ended  his  life,  he  prayed  fervently  and  expressed  his  "desire  to 
depart  and  be  with  Christ."  He  continued  to  the  last  to  express 
full  assurance  of  eternal  joy.  His  death  made  a  profound  impression 
on  his  countrymen,  who  habitually  spoke  of  him  as  "the  man  whom 
the  Saviour  took  to  himself"  The  seriousness  with  which  the  people 
now  listened  to  their  preaching  led  the  missionaries  to  take  measures 
for  the  erection  of  a  church  and  the  organization  of  a  regular  con- 
gregation at  Nain.  They  also  founded  a  settlement  in  1775  at 
Okkak,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  northward,  where  was  a 
more  desirable  residence  and  a  larger  accessible  population.  Here 
they  met  with  much  discouragement,  but  in  the  course  of  six  years 
had  gathered  a  church  of  thirty-eight  persons,  besides  some  catechu- 


52  A    VIEW    OF    EARLIER 

mens.  In  1782  a  third  settlement,  called  Hopedale^  was  made  south 
of  Nain,  but  for  a  long  time  no  visible  benefit  resulted  from  their 
labours  at  this  post. 

Indeed,  the  very  slow  and  partial  success  of  the  Labrador  mission 
became  a  source  of  much  discouragement.  Not  only  were  the 
converts  few,  but  they  were  persons  emphatically  "of  little  faith." 
They  were  continually  tempted  to  resume  their  former  heathen  prac- 
tices, and  not  seldom  yielded,  especially  during  the  summer,  when 
they  left  the  stations,  and  were  dispersed  among  their  unenlightened 
countrymen.  But  the  year  180-i  brought  with  it  brighter  tokens.  In 
that  summer  some  of  the  congregation  at  Hopedale  returned  from 
their  wanderings,  giving  evidence  that  they  had  not  only  been  kept 
from  falling,  but  had  enjoyed  a  deeper  spiritual  experience.  Their 
conversation  was  blessed  to  the  awakening  of  others.  The  like  spirit 
became  manifest  at  the  other  two  stations,  and  some  whose  profession 
of  Christianity  had  been  merely  formal  were  brought  to  repentance, 
and  gave  evidence  of  a  real  subjection  to  the  power  of  faith.  At 
Okkak,  the  eifect  was  to  excite  the  admiration  of  the  heathen  to 
such  a  degree,  that  a  company  of  them  asked  the  privilege  of  set- 
tling there,  which  was  joyfully  granted.  From  that  time  the  pro- 
gress of  the  mission  has  been  generally  steady  and  hopeful,  portions 
of  the  Scriptures  have  been  translated  and  circulated,  schools  have 
been  maintained,  the  number  of  converts  has  been  multiplied,  the 
icy  wastes  have  been  made  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

The  Hottentots  of  South  Africa  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
congregation  at  Hernhutt,  as  subjects  of  missionary  labour,  as  early 
as  1737,  in  which  year  George  Schmidt  sailed  for  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  where  he  was  received  with  great  kindness,  and  proceeded  to 
form  a  Christian  settlement.  He  preached  to  the  natives  through 
an  interpreter,  established  schools,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing 
that  his  efforts  were  not  in  vain.  The  Hottentots  treated  him  with 
the  utmost  veneration,  and  a  most  pleasing  prospect  of  enlarged 
usefulness  opened  before  him.  But  having  occasion  to  return  to 
Europe  in  174:3,  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  prohibited  the 
renewal  of  the  mission,  on  the  pretence  that  the  interests  of  the 
colony  would  be  injured  by  it.  In  consequence  of  this  unexpected 
action,  nothing  more  was  done  for  the  conversion  of  South  Africa 
till  1792,  when  three  missionaries  sailed  for  the  Cape,  and  were  there 
cordially  received  by  the  authorities.     A  place  was  assigned  them 


MISSIONARY    ENTEETRISES.  63 

which  tliey  discovered  to  be  the  same  occupied  by  Mr.  Schmidt. 
The  ruins  of  buildings  inhabited  by  him  and  his  affectionate  charge 
were  discovered,  Avith  several  fruit  trees  planted  by  his  own  hand, 
whose  life  amidst  the  surrounding  desolation,  was  a  welcome  type 
of  the  unfading  vigour  of  that  spiritual  life  communicated  through 
the  word  which  they  preached.  They  found  also  a  solitary  human 
witness  of  the  work  achieved  there, — an  aged  woman,  nearly  blind, 
who  though  she  had  forgotten  his  instructions  remembered  her  for- 
mer teacher,  and  had  preserved  a  cop}'  of  the  New  Testament. 

Such  of  the  people  as  had  any  recollection,  or  had  heard  of  Mr. 
Schmidt,  received  his  successors  gladly;  others,  through  slanders  of 
the  Dutch  fiirmers,  were  jealous  of  them,  but  by  degrees  consider- 
able numbers  came  for  instruction,  and  listened  with  the  utmost 
attention  and  reverence.  Before  the  end  of  1793,  seven  were  received 
to  a  public  profession  of  their  faith.  Scarcely,  however,  had  this 
result  been  reached,  when  the  mission  was  threatened  by  those 
calamities  which  war  alwaj^s  brings  on  the  colonies  of  a  belligerent 
nation.  The  fear  of  an  attack  by  the  French  caused  the  mission- 
aries and  all  able-bodied  members  of  their  congregation  to  be  sum- 
moned to  Cape  Town  for  the  defence  of  the  colony,' — a  measure 
which,  besides  interrupting  their  appropriate  labours,  exposed  those 
left  behind,  and  whom  there  was  no  time  to  remove,  to  great  want 
and  suffering.  From  this  they  soon  recovered  on  the  removal  of 
the  danger,  but  only  to  find  themselves  crippled  by  vexatious  and 
restrictive  acts,  passed  by  the  colonial  authorities  at  the  instigation 
of  their  enemies. 

While  still  suffering  under  these  regulations,  in  1795,  an  insurrec- 
tion was  made  by  a  portion  of  the  colonists,  having  for  its  object  the 
redress  of  certain  alleged  grievances,  among  which  the  instruction 
of  the  Hottentots  was  prominent.  From  this  they  were  delivered 
by  the  approach  of  a  British  force,  which  called  the  Dutch  from 
mutual  hostilities  to  repel  a  common  enemy.  The  Cape  was  sur- 
rendered to  the  British,  after  which  the  mission  enjoyed  an  interval 
of  repose  which  was  diligently  improved.  The  settlement  increased 
in  numbers,  the  congregation  was  serious  and  devout,  and  the  truth 
v/as  evidently  heard  with  saving  benefit.  Nor  was  its  religious 
aspect  the  sole  merit  of  the  station.  Neatness,  cleanliness,  industry 
and  good  order  characterized  the  people,  to  the  confusion  of  those 
who  had  slandered  the  self-denying  brethren,  their  teachers,  and 
those  who  had  treated  the  attempt  to  elevate  the  degraded  Hot- 


64  A    VIEW    OF    EAHLIER 

tentot  as  an  enterprise  of  moral  Quixotism.  The  congregation  was 
decimated  by  an  epidemic  fever  in  the  year  1800,  but  the  missionaries 
found  consolation  in  the  comfort  with  wliich  their  humble  disciples, 
strengthened  by  the  hopes  of  the  gospel,  met  the  last  enem}^  Their 
numbers  were  shortly  made  good;  the  fame  of  their  settlement  at 
Bavian's  Kloof  (afterwards  named  Gnadenthal^  or  Gracevale)  spread 
through  the  land,  and  attracted  numerous  families,  who  took  up 
their  abode  with  the  missionaries,  and  sought  the  benefit  of  their 
instructions. 

On  the  return  of  peace  the  colony  was  restored  to  the  Dutch,  but 
the  new  governor  protected  the  mission,  restored  a  tract  of  land 
that  had  been  wrested  from  them,  and  appointed  one  of  them  to 
serve  as  chaplain  to  a  Hottentot  corps  raised  for  the  defence  of  the 
colony,  in  which  capacity  his  conduct  received  the  decided  approba- 
tion of  the  government.  In  1806,  the  colony  was  again  and  finally 
captured  by  the  British.  The  British  governor  treated  the  brethren 
with  much  kindness,  a  new  station  was  founded,  and  their  labours 
were  pursued  with  increased  success.  From  that  time  the  South 
African  Mission  has  been  firmly  established.  At  different  times  it 
has  met  with  reverses  from  the  occasional  hostilities  of  the  CafFres, 
and  other  temporary  troubles,  but  through  every  vicissitude  it  has 
been  preserved,  a  blessing  to  all  brought  under  its  influence,  and 
an  active  force  cooperating  with  other  gracious  and  providential 
agencies,  for  the  elevation  of  a  people  once  deemed  among  the  most 
hopelessly  degraded  of  the  human  race. 

A  decree  of  the  Empress  Catharine,  granting  to  the  Moravians 
freedom  to  settle  in  the  Eussian  dominions,  and  to  exercise  entire 
religious  liberty,  encouraged  them  to  attempt  a  mission  among  the 
Calmuc  Tartars  in  Asiatic  Kussia.  Accordingly,  in  1765,  five  mis- 
sionaries stationed  themselves  at  a  point  on  the  Wolga,  upon  the 
high  road  to  Persia  and  India,  which  from  the  advantages  of  its 
position  became  a  populous  town,  and  received  the  name  of  Sarepta. 
Their  object,  however,  was  not  to  found  a  city,  but  to  extend  the 
empire  of  divine  truth  and  love,  and  with  this  intent  they  laboured 
to  impart  a  knowledge  of  Christianity  to  the  Calmucs,  a  body  of  whom 
were  then  encamped  in  the  neighbourhood.  The  chief  was  so  far 
pleased  with  their  deportment,  that  he  invited  two  of  them  to 
accompany  him  in  his  summer  wanderings.  They  accordingly  went, 
conforming  to  the  Tartar  modes  of  life,  and  followed  the  tribe  in  this 
manner  for  two  years.     They  were  treated  with  kindness,  and  allowed 


MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISES.  55 

to  preacli;  but  meeting  with  no  success,  determined  to  return  to 
Sarepta,  where  their  labours  were  limited  to  such  of  the  tribe  as  visited 
the  town  or  encamped  in  the  vicinity.  In  this  way  they  persevered 
till  1801,  when  it  appearing  that  nothing  had  been  visibly  gained 
towards  effecting  their  object,  they  resolved  to  teach  such  Calmuc 
children  as  they  could  collect  into  a  school. 

They  soon  obtained  a  few  pupils  for  instruction  in  the  German 
language,  among  whom  was  the  son  of  a  chief.  He  was  by  degrees 
impressed  with  the  character  and  affected  by  the  truths  of  the  Bible. 
In  1808  they  commenced  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  the 
Calmuc  language,  by  the  aid  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society. 
They  also  ransomed  four  girls  from  slavery,  who  subsequently  gave 
evidence  that  the  truths  they  heard  were  blessed  to  their  personal 
salvation.  But  the  fact  that  five  females  constituted  the  sole  fruit 
of  forty -five  years'  labour,  so  far  discouraged  them  that  the  mission 
was  abandoned.  It  was  renewed  in  1815,  under  the  patronage  of 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  by  two  of  the  brethren,  who  took 
up  their  abode  among  a  tribe,  about  two  hundred  miles  south  of 
Sarepta  on  the  Wolga.  They  were  received  with  apparent  good 
will,  but  with  some  mistrust  of  their  object,  which  was  heightened 
by  the  distribution  of  a  few  copies  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew, 
just  translated  and  published  by  the  Petersburgh  Bible  Society. 
The  curiosity  which  it  excited  was  succeeded  by  an  apparent  unea- 
siness, lest  their  religion  should  be  supplanted  by  one  which,  they 
said,  was  "good  for  Germans,"  but  unsuitable  for  Calmucs. 

The  conversion  of  two  Mongol  saisangs  or  nobles,  who  had  been 
induced  to  visit  St.  Petersburgh  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  in  the 
translation  of  the  Scriptures,  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  truth.  A 
letter  they  wrote  to  their  chief,  copies  of  which  were  circulated  by 
the  missionaries,  was  read  with  some  effect,  and  in  1818  a  man  named 
Sodnom  professed  his  faith  in  Christ  and  in  the  immortal  promises 
of  the  gospel.  In  the  course  of  this  year,  however,  the  chief  became 
openly  hostile  to  Christianity,  and  refused  the  missionaries  leave  to 
reside  longer  among  his  people.  But  twenty-two  had  become  so 
far  enlightened  as  to  withdraw  from  the  tribe,  and  accompany  the 
brethren  to  Sarepta.  The  refusal  of  the  Eussian  government  to 
permit  the  gathering  of  converts  into  congregations  under  the 
Moravian  discipline,  caused  the  substantial  termination  of  the  mis- 
sion. The  few  Calmucs  who  had  been  brought  to  a  knowledge  of 
the  truth  were  absorbed  in  the  Greek  Church,  and  though  the 


56  A    VIEW    OF    EATwLIER 

brethren  still  maintained  their  settlement  at  Sarepta,  it  ceased  to  be 
a  centre  of  missions  to  the  Tartars. 

Besides  the  missions  thus  briefly  sketched,  the  Moravians 
attempted,  in  a  like  spirit  of  devotion,  to  plant  the  gospel  in  various 
other  countries,  but  difficulties  that  seemed  insurmountable  com- 
pelled them  to  withdraw.  Such  were  their  enterprises  in  Lapland, 
West  Africa,  Algiers,  Ceylon,  Persia,  Egypt,  and  the  Nicobar  islands. 
The  work  which  they  have  been  permitted  to  accomplish,  however, 
is  an  imperishable  monument  of  the  honour  God  delights  to  put 
upon  humble  faith,  working  in  love,  with  the  divinely  appointed 
instrument, — truth.  While  thus  devoting  themselves  to  the  salva- 
tion of  the  heathen,  they  have  found  their  own  strength  increased, 
and  the  little  band  of  "  Hernhutters  "  is  now  a  vigorous  and  growing 
communion.  The  enlisting  of  larger  and  more  wealthy  bodies  of 
Christians  in  the  work  of  missions,  has  caused  their  efforts  to  appear 
in  diminished  relief  to  the  eye  of  men,  but  they  are  none  the  less 
earnest  and  useful  than  when  the  Moravian  stations  were  almost  the 
only  points  of  light  in  the  wide  darkness  that  so  long  shrouded 
whole  continents  and  "the  multitude  of  isles." 

During  the  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  state  of  the 
Protestant  world  was  highly  unfavourable  to  evangelical  enterprise. 
On  the  continent  of  Europe  the  spiritual  vitality  of  the  reformed 
churches  was  feeble.  In  England  the  power  of  religion  over  the 
mass  of  society  was  slight.  Whitefield  and  Wesley  had  done  much 
to  arouse  the  communit}^,  but  powerful  as  the  Methodist  polity  has 
become,  it  was  at  that  time  in  its  infancy,  and  had  no  sway  over  the 
higher  and  middle  classes  of  society.  Meanwhile  the  established 
church  was  lethargic,  except  politically,  and  the  dissenters  also, 
except  as  doctrinal  disputation  aroused  an  occasional  and  ungenial 
activity.  In  the  United  States,  the  revolutionary  war  exhausted  the 
strength  of  the  people,  and  of  course  depressed  the  churches,  in  a 
degree  from  which  they  slowly  recovered.  In  New  England,  more- 
over, principles  were  widely  diffused  which  were  destined  to  divide 
the  Puritan  churches,  and  deeply  modify  the  forms  of  popular  the- 
ology. At  such  a  time  it  was  not  strange  if  the  Great  Commission 
was  neglected.     But  it  was  not  long  so  to  be. 

A  new  spirit  of  missions  in  England  heralded  the  resuscitation  of 
the  evangelical  life  of  the  established  church,  and  the  general  revi- 
val of  pure  religion  in  the  country.     In  1792  Carey  and  his  associ- 


MISSIONARY    ENTERPRISES.  57 

ates  consecrated  themselves  to  the  diffusion  of  Christianity  in  the 
East.  In  1795  the  London  Missionary  Society  was  organized,  and 
the  same  year  was  made  memorable  by  the  publication  of  Wilber- 
force's  "Practical  View,"  exposing  the  hollowness  of  much  that 
passed  for  religion  in  the  higher  circles  of  society,  and  recalling  men 
to  the  claims  of  divine  truth, — a  work  that  was  blessed,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  devout  labours  of  Simeon  and  his  associates,  to  the 
great  increase  of  evangelical  piety.  The  Church  Missionary  Society 
soon  began  its  noble  career;  other  bodies  of  Christians  lent  their  aid 
to  enkindle  the  flame  of  a  world-embracing  charity;  the  churches  of 
America  followed  in  their  train.  Thus,  while  the  tempest  raised  by 
the  French  revolution  was  sweeping  over  Europe,  and  threatening 
the  nations  with  complete  civil  and  social  dissolution;  and  the  more 
withering  blast  of  infidelity  tainted  the  atmosphere  as  if  to  blight 
the  best  hopes  of  the  race, — the  church  was  summoned  to  renew 
the  task  committed  to  the  eleven  Apostles  on  the  mount  of  ascen- 
sion. The  enterprise  of  missions,  heretofore  pursued  by  small  and 
isolated  bands  of  Christians,  now  became  a  general  movement, 
enlisting  continually  new  energy,  till  in  our  day  it  commands  the 
unanimous  approval  of  evangelical  Christendom,  and  has  engaged 
the  service  of  some  of  her  most  honoured  sons.  In  the  succession 
of  those  whose  lives  have  been  given  to  this  glorious  work,  and 
who  have  entered  upon  their  everlasting  rest,  are  many  whose 
memory  can  never  fail  to  be  cherished  as  among  the  noblest  exem- 
plars of  Christian  heroism.  If,  by  the  contemplation  of  their  self- 
sacrificing  career,  any  heart  shall  be  made  to  beat  with  warmer 
S3^rapathy  for  the  cause  they  loved  more  than  their  own  lives,  the 
labour  bestowed  on  the  following  pages  will  not  have  been  in  vain. 


WILLIAM   CAREY. 


Nothing  in  the  origin  or  early  life  of  William  Carey  gave  promise 
of  the  career  which  in  the  order  of  providence  he  was  destined  to 
pursue.  He  was  born  at  Paulerspury,  Northamptonshire,  England, 
August  17,  1761.  His  grandfather  was  master  of  the  village  school. 
His  father,  Edmund  Carey,  was  apprenticed  to  a  weaver,  and  fol- 
lowed that  trade  till  William,  his  eldest  son,  was  six  years  of  age, 
when  he  was  nominated  to  the  charge  of  the  same  school.  William 
received  a  good  English  education,  and  his  inquisitive  and  diligent 
habits  led  him  to  make  excellent  use  of  his  opportunities.  He  early 
displayed  a  taste  for  the  study  of  geography  and  history,  for  the 
reading  of  voyages  and  travels,  for  drawing,  and  the  observation  of 
nature.  He  gathered  specimens  of  plants  and  flowers,  birds  and 
insects,  with  which  his  apartment  was  stored,  and  had  a  decided 
partiality  for  the  study  of  the  physical  sciences.  Komances  had 
their  attraction,  and  he  indulged  his  taste  for  them  to  some  extent, 
but  he  "  hated  novels  and  plays."  Yet,  although  perseveringly  stu- 
dious, his  active  temperament  made  him  eager  in  the  exercise  of 
boyish  sports  and  recreations,  and  he  is  recorded  to  have  been  a 
general  favourite  with  those  of  his  own  age.  His  manners  were 
not  prepossessing,  but  his  qualities  were  such  as  could  not  fail  to 
excite  the  attention  of  observing  ixien.  One  person  used  to  say 
"he  was  sure,  if  he  lived  to  be  ever  so  old,  he  would  always  be  a 
learner,  and  in  pursuit  of  something  further."  A  gentleman  of 
Leicester  remarked,  after  he  was  settled  in  the  ministry,  that  "never 
a  youth  promised  fairer  to  make  a  great  man,  had  he  not  turned 
cushion-thumper."  But  he  who  endowed  him  with  the  gifts  that 
thus  seemed  to  fit  him  for  worldly  distinction,  led  him  by  a  way 
that  worldly  observation  could  not  discern,  and  reserved  him  for 
an  enterprise,  the  idea  of  which  had  scarcely  dawned  on  the  vision 
of  the  most  far-sighted  of  his  contemporaries. 

The  moral  promise  of  his  youth  was  less  auspicious  than  his  intel- 
lectual. His  parents  were  attached  to  the  established  church,  and 
he  was  mxade  familiar  with  the  Scriptures,  but  was  ignorant  of  evan- 
gelical religion,  and  from  his  first  knowledge  of  its  professors  enter- 


60  WILLIAM     CAREY. 

tainecl  a  settled  contempt  for  tliem.  He  was  intimate  with  vicious 
associates,  and  became  addicted  to  habits  of  falsehood  and  profane- 
ness.  That  from  such  a  condition  he  should  have  attached  himself 
to  one  of  the  humblest  classes  of  dissenters,  become  a  laborious 
preacher  among  them,  and  ultimately  be  a  pioneer  in  a  work  which 
now  commands  in  a  large  measure  the  energies  of  evangelical 
Christendom,  and  the  respect  of  less  sympathizing  observers,  was 
as  improbable,  according  to  any  common  estimate,  as  it  was  in 
accordance  with  the  ordinary  methods  of  Divine  wisdom, 

A  scorbutic  disorder  in  his  face  and  hands,  which  was  aggravated 
by  exposure  to  the  heat  of  the  sun,  unfitted  him  for  employments 
in  the  open  air,  while  the  circumstances  of  the  family  forbade  any 
aspirations  after  pursuits  adapted  to  the  activity  of  his  mind,  and 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  shoemaker  in  Hackle- 
ton.  One  of  his  associates,  the  son  of  a  dissenter,  frequently 
engaged  him  in  religious  disputes.  This  person  becoming  seriously 
attentive  to  personal  religion,  became  also  more  importunate  in  his 
appeals  to  young  Carey,  and  occasionally  lent  him  a  religious  book. 
He  thus  gradually  gained  a  knowledge  and  relish  of  evangelical 
doctrines,  and  became  uneasy  in  view  of  his  own  spiritual  condition. 
He  resolved  to  reform  his  habits,  became  constant  in  his  attendance 
at  the  parish  church,  and  frequented  a  small  dissenting  meeting  on 
Sunday  evenings,  with  the  idea  that  by  this  combination  of  means, 
he  would  secure  the  flxvour  of  Heaven.  How  distant  he  was  from 
clear  conceptions  of  the  nature  of  true  piety,  appears  from  an  inci- 
dent he  relates  that  occurred  at  this  time.  He  had  taken,  among 
the  customary  Christmas  gifts  that  the  workmen  collected,  a  bad 
shilling,  and  attempted  to  transfer  the  loss  to  his  master,  having 
money  of  his  to  account  for.  Dreading  detection,  he  prayed  for 
success  in  the  cheat,  vowing  that  if  he  got  safely  through  it,  he 
would  thenceforth  give  over  all  his  evil  practices!  He  was  merci- 
fully detected  and  exposed,  and  thus  spared  from  that  hardening  of 
his  moral  susceptibilities  which  would  naturally  have  followed  from 
success,  while  it  revealed  more  sensibly  the  evil  of  his  own  heart 
and  led  him  to  seek  more  earnestly  the  renewal  of  his  nature. 

A  whimsical  fancy  (for  in  itself  it  scarcely  deserved  a  better  name) 
was  the  means  of  breaking  him  off  from  a  lifeless,  formal  ministry,  to 
one  more  spiritual.  Listening  to  a  discourse  on  the  duty  of  implicitly 
following  Christ,  his  attention  was  arrested  by  the  emphatic  repeti- 
tion of  the  text,  "Let  us  therefore  go  out  unto  him  without  the 


WILLIAM     CAREY.  61 

camp,  bearing  his  reproach."  The  idea  suggested  itself  to  his  mind 
that  the  Church  of  England  was  the  "camp  ''  in  which  all  men  were 
sheltered  from  the  reproach  of  the  cross,  and  this  crude  impression 
led  him  at  once  to  renounce  his  ancestral  and  proudly  cherished 
faith,  and  to  attach  himself  to  the  little  congregation  of  dissenters  in 
the  village.  By  reading  and  reflection  he  formed  for  himself  a  reli- 
gious creed,  the  substance  of  which  he  ever  afterwards  regarded  as 
sound  and  scriptural.  The  clerk  of  a  neighbouring  parish,  who  had 
imbibed  some  mystical  opinions,  sent  a  message  to  him,  desiring  a 
conference  on  religious  subjects.  They  met,  and  had  a  warm  discus- 
sion for  six  hours.  His  antagonist  addressed  him  with  a  warmth 
and  tenderness  to  which  he  had  been  unaccustomed,  clearly  con- 
victing him  of  unchristian  conduct,  and  controverting,  though 
unsuccessfully,  his  doctrines.  He  found  himself  unable  to  admit  his 
friend's  opinions  or  to  defend  his  own.  But  he  became  profoundly 
sensible  of  his  own  moral  defilement  and  helplessness,  and  was  soon 
led  to  place  his  entire  trust  in  a  crucified  Saviour,  and  to  repose  his 
faith  in  the  word  of  God  as  the  sole  standard  of  truth. 

The  little  company  of  dissenters  at  Hackleton  having  organized 
themselves  into  a  church,  Carey  united  with  them,  and  there  being 
a  considerable  awakening,  their  meetings  were  more  fully  attended 
than  usual.  At  these  meetings  he  was  occasionally  requested  to 
speak,  which  he  did  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  people.  Subse- 
quently being  at  the  meeting  of  the  association  at  Olney, — he  had 
not  a  penny  in  his  pocket,  and  fasted  all  day, — he  fell  in  with  some 
friends  residing  at  Earl's  Barton.  By  the  advice  of  Kev.  Mr.  Chater, 
they  came  to  Hackleton  a  fortnight  after,  and  asked  him  to  preach 
to  them.  He  accepted  this  invitation,  as  he  said,  because  he  had 
not  the  courage  to  refuse,  and  visited  them  twice  with  such  encour- 
agement that  he  continued  to  preach  there  at  stated  intervals,  for 
three  years  and  a  half*  A  similar  invitation  from  friends  at  Pau- 
lerspury,  his  native  place,  was  accepted  with  the  more  pleasure,  as 
it  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  visit  his  parents.  His  friends  were 
by  no  means  pleased  with  his  desertion  of  the  established  church, 
but  their  natural  partiality  was  gratified  by  the  acceptableness  of  his 
Youthful  ministrations,  and  in  consideration  of  it,  they  tolerated  his 

•  In  the  account  which  Dr.  Carey  gave  of  his  early  years,  from  which  this  sketcli 
is  compiled,  there  is  a  remarkable  absence  of  dates,  which  his  biographer  has  not 
supplied, — perhaps  from  inability  to  do  so. 


62  WILLIAM     CAREY. 

eccentricity.  He  had  the  happiness,  not  long  after,  to  see  other 
members  of  the  family  partakers,  through  grace,  of  the  promise  of 
eternal  life  which  he  cherished  and  preached. 

Daring  all  this  time,  while  established  in  the  elementarj^  principles 
of  the  gos2:)el,  his  mind  was  in  a  considerable  degree  unsettled  on 
some  points  of  Christian  doctrine.  His  doubts  were  resolved  by 
the  perusal  of  Hall's*  "Help  to  Zion's  Travellers."  Some  of  his 
friends  told  him  it  was  poison:  but  he  remarked  that  "it  was  so 
sweet  he  drank  greedily  to  the  bottom  of  the  cup,"  and  he  never 
regretted  that  he  did  so.  His  attention  being  called  to  the  subject 
by  a  sermon,  he  adopted  the  views  of  the  Baptists,  and  received 
the  ordinance  of  baptism  at  the  hands  of  Dr.  R3dand.  Rev.  Mr. 
Sutcliff,  afterwards  a  warm  cooperator  in  the  missionary  enterprise, 
remonstrated  with  him  on  the  irregularity  of  his  preaching.  By  his 
advice  he  offered  himself  to  the  church  at  Olney,  and  was  soon  after 
formally  set  apart  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  He  arrived  at  this 
consummation  not  without  sore  trials.  He  had  married  at  the  a2;e 
of  twenty,  his  wife  was  of  a  feeble  constitution,  his  business  furnished 
him  an  inadequate  support,  which  was  not  sensibly  mended  by  any 
compensation  he  received  for  his  preaching.  Ordinary  men  would 
have  fainted  with  discouragement,  but  he  entered  on  the  ministry 
not  for  reward,  except  he  might  win  souls  for  his  hire,  and  the  same 
motives  that  led  him  into  the  work,  sustained  him  unfalteringly  in 
its  prosecution. 

He  now  settled  at  Moulton,  a  step  which  did  not  much  improve 
his  outward  circumstances.  He  attempted  to  sustain  himself  by  a 
school,  which  failed,  and  he  was  driven  to  labour  at  his  trade,  a  fact 
that  afterwards  pointed  the  famous  jest  of  Sydney  Smith  about 
"consecrated  coblers."  But  on  the  whole,  the  period  of  his  resi- 
dence there  was  among  the  most  important  of  his  life.  By  an  exact 
economy  of  time  he  made  rapid  progress  in  knowledge.  It  was 
here  that  he  began  the  acquisition  of  languages,  exhibiting  that 
master  talent  which  was  destined  to  be  the  ground  of  his  last- 
ing fame,  and  what  he  valued  more,  his  enduring  usefulness.  It 
is  related  that  a  friend  having  given  him  a  volume  in  Dutch,  he 
forthwith  procured  a  grammar,  and  learned  that  language.  His 
mind  was  quickened  by  intercourse  with  men  whose  names  are  now 

*  Rev.  Robert  Hall,  senior. 


WILLIAM     CAEEY.  63 

the  exclusive  property  of  no  religious  sect,  especially  witli  Fuller 
and  Pearce.  Here,  above  all,  was  kindled  in  his  bosom  the  mis- 
sionary spirit,  which  he  cherished  and  communicated  to  others,  till 
their  hearts  glowed  in  sympathy  with  his  own. 

While  teaching  his  pupils  geography,  his  thoughts  were  turned  to 
the  moral  condition  of  the  world,  and  once  fixed  there,  could  not  be 
diverted.  On  the  wall  of  his  workshop  was  suspended  a  large  chart, 
in  which  were  inscribed  notes  on  the  population  and  religion  of 
various  nations,  and  with  this  he  occupied  his  thoughts  while  earning 
his  scanty  subsistence.  Here  he  meditated  the  great  theme,  not  with 
mere  sentimental  pity  or  the  fervour  of  romantic  enthusiasm,  but  with 
a  calm  and  duteous  sense  of  responsibility  to  God,  and  in  a  spirit  of 
fidelity  to  the  great  commission  of  his  Redeemer,  in  pursuance  of 
which,  though  at  first  with  an  imperfect  sense  of  its  comprehensive 
magnitude,  he  had  begun  to  proclaim  the  gospel.  No  voice  from 
without  cheered  his  lonely  studies;  the  Divine  Spirit  visited  him 
alone,  prompted  his  aspirations  and  gave  energy  to  his  infant  purpose. 

By  persevering  effort  he  succeeded  in  engaging  a  few  persons  in 
his  plans.  As  early  as  1784,  at  a  meeting  at  Nottingham,  it  was 
resolved  to  set  apart  the  first  Monday  evening  of  each  month  as  a 
season  of  united  prayer  for  the  conversion  of  the  world,  an  appoint- 
ment now  of  nearly  universal  observance.  It  was  about  this  time, 
at  a  meeting  of  ministers  at  Northampton,  that  he  broached  the 
([uestion  of  "  the  duty  of  Christians  to  spread  the  gospel  among  hea- 
then nations."  Mr.  Ryland,  Sen.,  received  the  suggestion  with  sur- 
prise, and  called  him  an  enthusiast.  His  zeal  was  not  to  be  damped, 
however,  but  he  was  content  to  "bide  his  time."  He  composed  a 
pamphlet  on  the  subject,  which,  at  a  later  period,  when  his  plans 
had  ripened  into  a  regular  missionary  organization,  was  given  to  the 
world  at  the  request  of  his  associates. 

In  1789,  the  straits  to  which  he  was  reduced  led  him  to  think  of 
a  removal  to  a  more  desirable  residence,  when  he  was  called  to  settle 
at  Leicester.  There  his  circumstances  were  somewhat  meliorated,  he 
found  ampler  opportunities  for  acquiring  knowledge,  and  his  sphere 
of  usefulness  was  enlarged.  Yet  he  still  found  it  necessary  to  teach 
a  school  for  his  support.  No  pressure  of  occupation,  however,  could 
divert  his  mind  from  the  theme  he  had  so  long  cherished.  In  the 
spring  of  1791,  at  a  meeting  at  Clipston,  Northamptonshire,  Mr. 
Fuller  and  Mr.  Sutcliff  preached  on  the  subject,  and  Mr.  Carey  then 
urged  the  formation  of  a  society.     Regarding  the  proposal  as  prema- 


64  W^ILLIAM     CAREY. 

ture,  they  requested  liim  to  puLlisli  the  pamphlet  which  they  knew 
he  had  in  manuscript.  He  did  so,  and  a  year  afterwards,  at  Notting- 
ham, preached  his  memorable  discourse  from  Isa.  54:  2,  3,  drawing 
from  the  text  these  exhortations  that  have  long  been  the  motto  of 
Christian  enterprise, — "Expect  great  things  from  God:  attem})t  great 
things  for  God."  The  meeting  caught  the  spirit  of  the  discourse;  it 
was  resolved  to  organize  a  society,  and  in  October,  at  Kettering,  a  plan 
was  matured,  a  committee  appointed  and  a  subscription  commenced. 
The  sum  subscribed  was  thirteen  pounds,  two  shillings  and  sixpence, 
— an  humble  beginning  that  made  a  fine  mark  for  scoffing  wits.  At 
this  meeting  Mr.  Carey  promptly  offered  himself,  and  was  accepted 
as  a  missionary  to  India.  His  determination  was  announced  to  his 
father  with  that  modest  composure  which  uniformly  characterized 
him.  "To  be  devoted,  like  a  sacrifice,  to  holy  uses,"  he  says,  "is  the 
great  business  of  a  Christian. — I  consider  myself  as  devoted  to  the 
service  of  God  alone,  and  now  I  am  to  realize  my  professions.  I  am 
to  go  to  Bengal,  in  the  East  Indies,  as  a  missionary  to  the  Ilindoos. 
I  hope,  dear  father,  you  may  be  enabled  to  surrender  me  up  to  the 
Lord  for  the  most  arduous,  honourable  and  important  work  that 
ever  any  of  the  sons  of  men  were  called  to  engage  in."  But  his 
calmness  was  not  the  result  of  insensibility,  for  he  adds,  "I  have 
many  sacrifices  to  make ;  I  must  part  with  a  beloved  family  and  a 
number  of  most  affectionate  friends.  oSTever  did  I  see  such  sorrow 
manifested  as  reigned  through  our  place  of  worship  last  Lord's  day. 
But  I  have  set  my  hand  to  the  plough."  The  fruit  of  his  long  and 
lonely  struggles  now  began  to  spring  up  in  his  sight.  It  was  but 
a  handful  of  corn,  but  he  knew  the  fulness  of  the  Divine  promise, 
and  was  assured  that  it  would  one  day  "shake  like  Lebanon." 

The  obstacles  to  the  enterprise  on  which  these  faithful  brethren 
had  entered  were  numerous  and  perplexing.  The  attempt  was  new, 
they  had  no  clear  precedents  to  guide  them,  and  they  must  strike 
out  their  own  path.  Their  means  were  scanty.  The  church  at  Bir- 
mingham, through  the  ardent  zeal  of  their  pastor,  Samuel  Pearce, 
nobl}''  responded  to  the  voice  that  summoned  them  to  "attempt 
great  things,"  and  raised  the  subscription  for  the  committee  to 
nearly  one  hundred  pounds,  and  others  lent  their  aid.  Carey  was 
resolved  to  go  forward,  in  the  trust  that  the  churches  would  furnish 
all  needful  aid,  but  there  was  much  in  the  state  of  the  Baptist 
denomination  to  shake  a  weaker  faith  than  animated  him.     A  form 


"WILLIAM     CAEEY.  Qo 

of  theology  that  might  be  termed  a  caricature  of  Calvinism,  para- 
h'zed  all  zealous  effort  for  the  salvation  of  men.  Fuller  had  exerted 
his  great  powers  to  demonstrate  that  the  gospel  is  "worthy  of  all 
acceptation,"  but  the  duty  of  all  men  to  receive  it  was  still  but  par- 
tially admitted,  and  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected  that  persons  who 
stumbled  at  this  truth  would  devote  themselves  to  the  task  of 
preaching  the  gospel  to  the  heathen,  while  practically  denying  the 
efficacy  of  preaching  at  home.  By  others  the  superior  claims  of 
home  evangelization  were  arrayed,  as  they  are  occasionall}^  now, 
against  foreign  missions.  Moreover  the  movers  in  the  work,  though 
now  viewed  as  among  the  great  lights  of  their  age,  were  obscure 
men,  and  their  plans  were  received  with  distrust.  Only  one  Baptist 
minister  in  the  metropolis  sanctioned  the  movement,  and  thouo^h 
treated  with  great  personal  respect  by  Dr.  Stennett  and  the  venera- 
ble Abraham  Booth,  Carey  when  in  London  received  his  chief 
encouragement  from  Rev.  John  Newton,  whose  warm  sympathies 
could  not  be  restrained  within  the  exclusive  limits  of  the  established 
church,  of  which  his  piety  made  him  a  distinguished  ornament 
Even  if  these  impediments  were  overcome,  it  was  doubtful  whether 
the  missionaries  would  be  permitted  to  enter  Bengal.  The  jealousy 
with  which  the  East  India  Company  viewed  such  a  movement^ 
though  not  fully  displayed  till  a  later  period,  was  well  understood. 
More  painful  than  all  else,  he  met  obstacles  in  his  own  household. 
Mrs.  Carey  would  not  consent  to  his  design,  and  refused  to  accom- 
pany him;  and  though  her  resolution  was  overruled,  her  society,, 
in  the  absence  of  sympathy,  was  no  help  to  her  devoted  husband.  \  f^ 
Wearily  did  he  bear  this  heaviest  of  calamities  before  he  discov-  \V^ 
ered,  many  years  afterwards,  its  true  source  in  her  evident  insanity,  I 
and  found  in  this  overwhelming  sorrow  a  relief  from  the  more  I 
poignant  anguish  which  her  unexplained  conduct  towards  him  / 
had  caused.  / 

But  Carey  walked  by  faith,  not  by  sight,  and  if  he  ever  entertained 
a  momentary  doubt  of  success,  it  was  resolutely  silenced.  He  ten- 
dered his  resignation  of  the  charge  in  which  he  he  had  been  so  useful 
and  beloved,  which  was  accepted  with  regret  but  without  murmur- 
ing by  his  affectionate  people.  The  self-sacrificing  spirit  with  which 
they  gave  up  their  pastor,  and  contributed  to  the  cause  to  which  he 
devoted  his  life's  energies,  had  its  reward.  Few  churches  in  the 
kingdom  were  more  prosperous  than  that  in  Leicester  under  his 
fuccessors,  among  whom  the  name  of  Robert  Hall  is  illustrious.     He 


66  WILLIAM    CAREY. 

took  leave  of  his  friends,  and  urged  his  preparations  for  the  voyage 
with  all  his  characteristic  force  and  methodical  perseverance.  As  if 
with  a  triumphant  assurance  of  success  he  said  to  Mr.  "Ward,  a  pious 
and  intelligent  youth,  a  printer  by  trade,  "  We  shall  want  you  in  a 
few  years  to  print  the  Bible;  you  must  come  after  us."  The  words 
were  never  forgotten,  and  Mr.  Ward  a  few  years  after,  had  the  hon- 
our of  fulfilling  more  amply  this  prophetic  suggestion. 

The  selection  of  a  companion  to  share  his  labours  was  among  the 
first  cares  of  the  committee.  One  was  providentially  at  hand.  Mr. 
John  Thomas,  a  gentleman  educated  to  the  medical  profession,  who 
had  practised  for  some  years  in  London,  visited  Bengal  in  1780  as 
a  surgeon  on  board  the  Oxford,  East  Indiaman.  On  his  arrival  he 
sought  to  devise  some  plan  for  the  spread  of^  the  gospel  there,  but 
Avas  unsuccessful,  and  on  returning  to  England  united  with  a  Bap- 
tist church  in  London.  He  now  began  to  preach  occasionally.  On 
a  second  visit  to  India,  in  1786,  he  became  acquainted  with  a  few 
pious  persons  with  whom  he  met  for  prayer,  and  afterwards  preached 
to  them  on  Sunday  evenings.  One  of  these  requested  him  to  remain 
in  the  coimtry,  and  preach  to  the  natives.  He  shrank  at  first  from 
the  proposal,  for  he  had  never  intended  to  engage  personally  in  the 
work;  he  disliked  the  climate,  dreaded  a  protracted  separation  from 
his  family,  and  doubted  whether  he  could  with  propriety  leave  his 
ship.  The  subject,  however,  could  not  be  driven  from  his  thoughts, 
and  after  much  prayer  he  made  the  effort.  His  labours  were  blessed 
to  the  hopeful  conversion  of  two  Europeans,  and  he  was  much 
encouraged  by  the  seriousness  of  two  or  three  natives,  one  of  whom, 
a  man  of  more  than  common  capacity  and  attainments,  assisted  him 
in  translating  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  and  other  portions  of  the  Ncav 
Testament.  These  tokens  of  the  Divine  favour  led  Mr.  Thomas  to 
visit  England  for  the  purpose  of  enlisting  coadjutors  and  securing 
pecuniary  aid.  The  committee  believed  that  his  providential  call 
to  India,  his  acquaintance  with  British  residents  there,  his  knowledge 
of  the  country  and  the  language,  and  his  evident  missionary  zeal, 
eminently  fitted  him  to  be  associated  in  their  first  enterprise,  and 
accordingly  he  was  appointed.  The  decision  was  no  doubt  for  the 
best  on  the  whole,  but  Mr.  Thomas'  improvident  habits  had  already 
involved  him  in  debts  that  embarrassed  the  beginnings  of  the  enter- 
prise, and  afi:erwards  brought  the  mission  into  serious  straits,  while 
a  degree  of  fickleness  and  eccentricity  severely  tried  Carey's 
patience,  till,  as  in  the  case   of  his  wife,  the   manifest  proofs  of 


WILLIAM    CAREY.  67 

mental  derangement  taught  liim  a  fresh  lesson  of  forbearance  and 
charitable  judgment. 

Their  preparations  having  been  completed,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Carey 
and  their  son  Felix,  with  Mr.  Thomas  and  his  family,  embarked  in 
the  Earl  of  Oxford,  for  Calcutta, — when  their  plans  were  frustrated 
by  the  refusal  of  the  captain  to  sail  with  them ;  that  officer  having 
been  warned  by  an  anonymous  letter  that  he  would  be  proceeded 
against  for  taking  a  passenger  whose  errand  was  not  disclosed  to 
the  East  India  Company,  and  who  had  no  license  from  them  to  visit 
Bengal.  Besides  the  disappointment  caused  by  this  decision,  a  large 
part  of  their  passage  money  was  lost.*  In  this  emergency  Mr. 
Thomas,  whose  elasticity  of  spirits  and  fertility  of  resource  aston- 
ished all  parties,  succeeded  in  procuring  a  passage  in  a  Danish  East 
Indiaman  advertised  to  sail  in  four  days.  He  hurried  to  North- 
ampton, the  committee  raised  the  necessary  sum  to  pay  their  pas- 
sage, their  baggage  was  conveyed  in  an  open  boat  to  Portsmouth,  and 
within  the  appointed  time  thej^  w^ere  all  safe  on  board.  They  bade 
farewell  to  England  on  the  13th  of  June,  1793,  and  after  a  pleasant 
voyage  arrived  at  Calcutta  on  the  11th  of  November  following. 

Carey  now  found  himself  in  the  land  to  which  he  had  so  long 
looked  forward,  with  scanty  means,  with  no  clearly  defined  plan  of 
operations,  and  without  any  of  that  Christian  sympathy  which  was 
so  needful  to  sustain  his  spirit  and  give  a  genial  force  to  his  active 
powers.  The  European  residents  of  Bengal  were  not  more  aliens 
from  their  native  country  than  from  the  spirit  of  a  Christian  people. 
Emancipated  from  the  restraints  of  home,  they  cast  off  all  restraint 
of  principle.  Most  of  them  were  professed  infidels.  The  natives 
were  accustomed  to  say  that  the  English  differed  from  any  people 
they  had  ever  known,  for  while  all  other  nations  had  some  object 
of  worship,  the  English  had  no  religion  at  all.  Of  course  they  had 
no  faith  in  missions,  and  no  love  for  the  objects  which  missions  aimed 
to  effect.  On  every  side  swarmed  a  vast  native  population, — that 
of  Bengal  alone  exceeding  fifty  millions,  and  peopling  the  whole 
peninsula  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  millions, — though  at  that 
time  British  rule  toward  the  northward  stopped  far  short  of  the 
Himmalayas  and  the  Indus.  This  immense  multitude  was  composed 
of  numerous  tribes  and  nations,  speaking  not  less  than  twenty-five 

*  Of  £350  paid,  Mr.  Carey  received  back  only  j£l50,  and  no  account  is  given  in 
their  narrative  of  thj  ierundin<{  of  the  bahmce. 


68  WILLIAM    CAREY. 

languages,  with  almost  an  infinity  of  sub-divisions,  each  having  its 
local  or  hereditary  dialect.  "With  the  exceptions  of  Mohammedans, 
Parsees,  nominal  Christians  and  smaller  sects,  most  of  them  of  for- 
eign descent,  the  greater  portion  of  the  people  were  professors  of 
some  of  the  numerous  forms  of  belief  which  together  constitute 
Hindooism — a  name  that  describes  not  so  much  a  definite  religious 
system  as  a  local  concourse  of  impure,  debasing  and  cruel  supersti- 
tions, intermingled  partly  by  affinities  derived  from  their  common 
pantheistic  origin,  and  partly  by  the  accidents  of  conquest.  The 
peninsula  having  been  several  times  overrun  by  powerful  invaders 
and  rent  by  civil  war,  all  the  vices  generated  by  centuries  of  violence 
and  oppression  were  added  to  those  of  the  prevailing  forms  of  reli- 
gion. In  spite  of  its  cruel  and  degrading  character,  Hindooism  holds 
the  mind  of  its  votary  by  a  more  powerful  grasp  than  any  other 
known  form  of  paganism,  strengthened  as  it  is  by  the  influence  of 
remote  antiquity,  and  so  intertwined  with  the  institutions  of  society, 
that  almost  every  voluntary  act  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave  is  a 
part  of  its  ritual. 

As  if  this  were  not  enough,  British  authority  lent  a  partial  sanc- 
tion to  these  fearful  superstitions.  The  East  India  Company  was 
swayed  by  men  whose  ends  were  chiefly  mercenary,  and  who  dreaded 
lest  any  appearance  of  hostility  to  heathenism  should  imperil  their 
gains  and  the  dominion  by  which  these  were  made  secure.  Accord- 
ingly the  government  ostentatiously  patronized  idolatry,  with  its 
impure  and  cruel  rites,  took  pleasure  in  annoying  those  who  sought 
to  diffuse  Christianity,  and  more  than  once  dared  to  prohibit  directly 
the  instruction  of  its  subjects  in  the  will  and  worship  of  God.  The 
missionaries,  moreover,  had  but  limited  means  of  support,  and 
uncertainty  rested  on  the  prospect  of  aid  from  home.  Under  these 
circumstances  Mr.  Carey  resolved  to  engage  in  the  cultivation  of  the 
soil,  and  thus  at  once  provide  for  his  own  support  and  place  him- 
self in  a  situation  admitting  of  free  intercourse  with  the  people. 
Before  he  could  accomplish  his  design  he  was  reduced  to  great  des- 
titution by  the  improvidence  of  his  colleague,  to  whom  as  the  most 
familiar  with  the  country  the  direction  of  their  pecuniary  affairs  was 
entrusted.  Mr.  Thomas  indeed  seemed  to  have  no  consistent  plan. 
At  one  time  he  showed  a  disposition  to  abandon  the  work,  and 
resume  medical  practice  at  Calcutta,  while  Mr.  Carey,  resolute  in 
his  determination  to  execute  his  sacred  commission,  was  casting 
about  for  some  refuge  in  which  to  shelter  himself  from  want. 


WILLIAM    CAREY.  69 

In  this  emergency  lie  received  notice  that  Geo,  ge  Udney,  Esq., 
of  Malda,  was  setting  up  two  Indigo  factories  in  the  district  of  Din- 
agepore,  and  an  invitation  to  himself  and  his  colleague  to  assume 
the  charge  of  them,  with  salaries  of  two  hundred  rupees  per  month 
and  a  commission  on  the  indigo  manufactured.  This  sum  was  suf- 
ficient to  provide  for  their  support.  At  the  same  time  it  promised 
to  place  them  in  a  position  to  exert  an  influence  over  a  large  num- 
•  ber  of  people,  more,  probabl}',  than  they  would  find  access  to  in  any 
other  manner,  and  thus  to  afford  the  means  of  laying  a  durable 
foundation  for  their  future  operations.  For  these  reasons  the  offer 
was  accepted,  and  they  removed  to  their  respective  locations,  Mr. 
Carey  at  Udnabatty,  and  Mr.  Thomas  at  Moypaldiggy,  sixteen  miles 
apart,  in  June  1794.  Their  friends  at  home  learned  these  facts  with 
surprise  and  not  a  little  dissatisfaction.  However  advantageous  to 
the  cause  it  might  be  that  the  mission  was-  established  on  an  inde- 
pendent basis,  and  that  they  were  thus  at  libert}'^  to  expend  their 
contributions  wholly  in  the  support  of  others,  the  engagement  of 
their  missionaries  in  secular  occupations  was  regarded  as  improper, 
and  calculated  to  divert  them  from  their  appropriate  work.  And 
though  the  devotion  of  Mr.  Carey  to  his  appointed  service  was  such 
as  to  render  the  apprehension  needless  in  his  particular  case,  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  hazard  is  too  great  to  be 
run  except  an  imperative  necessity  demands  it.  In  the  present 
instance,  however,  the  reasons  that  led  to  such  a  course  were  weighty; 
and  the  necessity  of  some  such  employment  to  give  the  missiona- 
ries a  secure  footing  in  the  countrj^,  while  the  East  India  Company 
should  continue  hostile  to  their  main  errand,  left  no  alternative. 

A  man  of  less  industry  and  method  than  Carey,  even  with  his 
devotion,  would  have  found  suoh  employment  scarcely  consistent 
with  missionary  labours.  The  cares  of  building,  preparing  the 
works  and  making  the  necessary  arrangements  for  the  manufacture, 
absorbed  much  time,  and  must  have  been  a  continual  burden  to  his 
mind.  But  from  the  first  his  eye  was  on  his  spiritual  calling,  and 
his  journal  attests  how  anxiously  he  watched  over  his  thoughts  and 
affections,  jealous  lest  a  spirit  of  worldliness  should  chill  his  ardour 
and  slacken  his  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  men.  He  preached  regu- 
larly to  the  English  inhabitants  in  the  vicinity,  and  addressed  the 
natives  through  his  monshee  or  interpreter,  Ram  Boshoo.  This 
was  one  of  the  three  persons  of  whom  Mr.  Thomas  had  entertained 
hope  that  they  were  sincere  converts.     He  had  unhappily  fallen  into 


70  WILLIAM    CAREY. 

idolatry  through  the  power  of  persecution,  which  he  had  not-  firm- 
ness to  endure,  but  he  manifested  his  attachment  to  the  missionaries. 
and  immediately  on  their  arrival  became  Mr.  Carey's  assistant,  by 
whom  he  was  employed  to  assist  in  translating  the  Scriptures.  The 
study  of  the  language  was  zealously  pursued  from  the  first,  and  in 
August,  Mr.  Carey  wrote, — "The  language  is  very  copious  and  I 
think  beautiful.  I  begin  to  converse  in  it  a  little;  but  my  third  son, 
about  five  years  old,  speaks  it  fluently." 

In  the  autumn  he  was  brought  low  by  sickness,  during  which  he 
was  bereaved  of  his  son  just  mentioned.  This  circumstance  brought 
out  most  vividly  the  spirit  of  caste,  an  institution  which  must  bo 
regarded  as  one  of  the  subtlest  contrivances  the  Evil-one  has  ever 
devised  to  enslave  a  people  in  sin.  By  this  system  the  whole  nation 
is  divided  into  hereditary  ranks,  each  caste  being  interdicted  from 
intermarriage  and  from  equal  intercourse  with  any  other.  At  the 
same  time  to  lose  caste,  which  is  done  by  violating  any  of  tlie  con- 
ventional religious  rules  of  the  order,  or  by  eating  with  foreigners 
or  other  out-castes,  is  to  subject  the  offender  to  the  most  deplorable 
degradation,  to  forfeit  his  rights  of  property,*  to  separate  him  for 
ever  from  the  society  of  his  nearest  friends.  Swartz  and  some  other 
missionaries  regarded  caste  as  a  purely  civil  distinction,  and  did  not 
require  its  relinquishment  by  their  converts,  but  there  can  be  no 
question,  in  view  of  long  experience  and  observation,  that  it  is  an 
essential  part  of  the  religious  system  of  Brahminism,  and  totally 
hostile  to  the  spirit  of  equality  that  belongs  to  Christianity.  It  is 
now  generally  discarded  by  the  existing  missions  in  India.  The 
present  was  the  first  striking  incident  which  revealed  to  Mr.  Carey 
the  inherent  baseness  and  inhumanity  of  the  system.  It  was  next 
to  impossible  to  find  any  person  to  dig  a  grave  or  aid  in  burjnng  his 
son.  But  he  was  sustained  under  these  sorrows,  and  on  his  recovery, 
exerted  himself  with  new  energy  in  his  labour  of  love. 

In  the  following  year  he  spoke  of  addressing  "large  congregations 
of  natives,"  some  of  whom  appeared  deeply  interested  in  his  message. 
He  urged  forward  the  work  of  translation ;  and  in  June  he  records 

*  It  is  a.  singular  fact,  that  until  1833,  the  courts  of  the  East  India  Company 
rigidly  enforced  this  intolerant  rule  throughout  their  dominions.  It  was  then  abol- 
ished in  Bengal,  but  continued  in  force  in  the  other  presidencies  till  1850.  Thus 
British  power  was  exerted  to  enforce  the  persecuting  Hindoo  and  Mohammedan 
laws,  and  no  native  could  embra<'.e  Christianity  without  literally  incurring  the  "  loss 
of  all  things  for  Christ." 


WILLIAM    CAREY.  71 

that  the  Pentateuch  and  New  Testament  were  nearly  compbted. 
They  were  revised  and  ready  for  the  press  in  about  two  years.  The 
mental  derangement  of  his  wife  was  now  permitted  to  deepen  his 
cup  of  sorrows,  though  for  reasons  already  suggested  it  could  hardly 
have  added  bitterness  to  the  draught.  He  shortly  commenced  the 
study  of  the  Sanscrit,  one  of  the  most  difficult  of  languages,  although 
as  the  original  stock  from  which  most  of  the  oriental  tongues  are 
derived,  essential  to  success  in  his  great  undertaking, — the  transla- 
tion of  the  Scriptures  into  those  numerous  languages.  In  1797  he 
was  cheered  by  the  hope  that  three  natives  had  become  subjects  of 
grace,  and  though  his  expectations  of  them  were  not  fully  realized, 
the  impulses  of  his  faith  were  strengthened.  The  arrival  of  an  asso- 
ciate from  England,  Rev.  John  Fountain,  was  a  great  encouragement, 
giving  him  Christian  society,  and  that  sympathy  without  which  the 
most  engaging  tasks  lose  something  of  their  power  to  enlist  a  man's 
entire  faculties.  A  school  for  native  children  was  opened.  The  jeal- 
ousy of  parents  led  to  such  frequent  changes  of  the  pupils  that  it 
accomplished  less  than  had  been  hoped,  but  it  was  not  easy  to 
discourage  his  persevering  benevolence. 

On  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Fountain  the  government  made  a  demon- 
stration of  its  jealousy  by  requiring  all  Europeans  not  in  their  service 
to  report  themselves  and  their  occupation.  To  avoid  the  chance  of 
an  order  for  Mr.  Fountain's  expatriation,  he  was  appointed  an  assist- 
ant of  Mr.  Carey  in  the  indigo  works,  and  so  reported.  Immediate 
collision  with  the  authorities  was  thus  avoided,  and  the  brethren 
proceeded  with  their  labours.  In  1798,  the  Pentateuch,  New-Testa- 
ment and  eighty-five  Psalms  having  been  translated,  measures  were 
taken  to  procure  and  set  up  a  printing  press.  This  enterprise  was 
brought  to  a  stand  in  the  next  year  by  two  events  that  jointly  threat- 
ened the  mission  with  extinction.  Mr.  Udney  met  with  such  losses 
in  business  as  to  make  the  suspension  of  his  factories  necessary,  thus 
removing  from  the  missionaries  the  shield  which  that  occupation  had 
afforded  them.  About  the  same  time  four  missionaries,  Messrs. 
Marshman,  Ward,  Brunsden,  and  Grant,  arrived  in  Calcutta,  and 
were  ordered  by  the  Government  to  leave  the  country.  They  had 
come  in  an  American  vessel,  from  the  certainty  that  the  Directors 
of  the  East  India  Company  in  London  would  refuse  them  a  permit 
to  settle  in  Bengal,  and  trusting  that  having  once  reached  their  des- 
tination, Providence  would  open  a  way  for  them  to  remain. 

Upon  the  failure  of  Mr.  Udney's  works,  Messrs.  Carey  and  Foun- 


72  WILLIAM    CAREY. 

tain  were  relieved  from  immediate  pecuniary  embarrassment,  by  a 
generous  advance  from  W.  Cunninghame,  Esq.,  a  gentleman  then 
tilling  a  judicial  station  at  Dlnagepore,  who  had  been  benefited  by 
their  preaching,  and  with  great  delicacy  offered  his  assistance  on  first 
hearing  of  their  necessities.  Mr.  Carey  at  once  contracted  for  the 
purchase  of  an  indigo  factory  at  Kidderpore,  in  the  vicinity,  and  was 
, making  preparations  for  a  removal  thither,  when  he  was  called  to  sac- 
rifice his  whole  investment,  and  transfer  the  mission  to  another  field. 
On  the  arrival  of  the  new  missionaries  at  Calcutta,  they  learned 
that  they  would  not  be  tolerated  in  the  country.  About  fourteen 
miles  above  Calcutta,  there  was  a  small  Danish  settlement,  to  which 
they  repaired  for  a  temporary  retreat.  The  governor  had  enjoyed 
the  instructions  of  Swartz,  and  gave  them  the  assurance  of  his  pro- 
tection. They  afterwards  learned  that  their  repulse  from  Calcutta 
arose  from  a  paragraph  in  a  newspaper,  in  which  they  were  described 
as  popish  missionaries,  but  from  the  subsequent  conduct  of  the  Brit- 
ish authorities,  it  was  manifest  that  their  settlement  would  have  been 
resisted  and  their  enterprise  harassed  at  all  events.  As  Serampore 
was  happily  under  a  friendly  jurisdiction,  while  from  the  dense 
population  it  commanded  and  its  nearness  to  Calcutta  it  afforded 
excellent  facilities  for  their  labours,  it  was  decided  that  the  mission 
should  be  fixed  there.  Tliis  involved  a  sacrifice  of  the  entire 
property  Mr.  Carey  had  purchased  at  Kidderpore,  and  a  relin- 
quishment of  his  work  in  that  field  with  its  first  buds  of  promise, 
but  their  duty  appeared  plain,  the  removal  was  made,  and  in  Janu- 
ary, 1800,  the  mission  was  established  at  Serampore. 

The  six  years  which  Mr.  Carey  had  spent  in  India  had  not  been 
unproductive.  True,  he  had  accomplished  but  little,  even  appa- 
rently, in  turning  the  natives  from  idolatry;  and  the  hopes  enter- 
tained of  two  or  three  persons  whom  he  had  instructed  were  sadly 
disappointed.  But  he  had  gained  facility  in  the  use  of  the  Bengali 
language,  and  translated  an  important  part  of  the  Scriptures;  had 
mastered  the  elements  of  the  Sanscrit,  in  which  he  soon  became  an 
accomplished  scholar;  and  had  that  practical  acquaintance  with  the 
native  character  which,  in  connexion  with  these  important  acquisi- 
tions, prepared  him  for  energetic  and  judicious  labour.  He  gained 
a  juster  view  of  the  obstacles  in  his  path.  The  strong  bands  b}^ 
which  the  Hindoo  faith  was  riveted  on  the  native  mind  had  been 
imperfectly  apprehended  by  him.     In  truth,  a  protracted  experience 


WILLIAM    CAEEY.  73 

has  been  required  to  show  clearly  to  the  Christian  world  the  fall 
strength  with  which  oriental  superstitions  grasp  their  subjects,  and 
in  India  idolatry  is  so  interwoven  with  all  the  social  relations  of  the 
people,  that  though  convinced  of  its  falsity,  they  will  not  be  easily 
persuaded  to  make  themselves  outcasts  on  earth,  even  to  secure  the 
bliss  of  heaven.  Nor  have  we  any  reason  to  wonder,  if  such  mul- 
titudes shrink  from  taking  up  the  cross,  in  lands  where  the  cross  is 
outwardly  honoured,  that  men  should  refuse  the  burden  where  it 
must  consign  them  to  worldly  infamy.  To  proclaim  the  truth  in 
such  circumstances  called  for  a  large  measure  of  that  f  lith  which 
relies  exclusively,  as  Mr.  Carey  expressed  it,  on  "the  promise,  power 
and  faithfulness  of  God." 

Mr.  Grant  was  not  permitted  to  enter  this  field.  He  died  at  Cal- 
cutta a  few  days  after  his  arrival,  and  not  long  after  Mr.  Fountain, 
whose  faithful  labours  promised  abundant  usefulness,  was  likewise 
called  away  from  his  station  at  Dinagepore,  a  severe  blow  to  the 
mission.  But  the  protection  they  received  at  Serampore  gave  every 
encouragement  to  enter  hopefully  and  energetically  on  their  appointed 
work.  The  translation  had  been  urged  on  with  such  success  that 
before  his  removal  Mr.  Carey  was  able  to  announce  that  the  whole 
Bible,  except  2d  Kings  and  2d  Chronicles,  was  completed.  The 
press  was  worked  with  vigour,  the  four  Gospels  and  several  tracts 
were  printed  within  nine  months,  and  portions  of  them  put  in  circu- 
lation. He  began  to  preach  regularly  five  or  six  discourses  a  week 
to  the  natives,  and  a  Sunday  service  in  English  was  established  for 
the  benefit  of  the  European  population,  who  needed  it  scarcely  less 
than  the  natives  themselves.  Serampore  was  a  retreat  not  more 
convenient  for  the  missionaries  than  for  persons  who  had  less  repu- 
table reasons  for  escaping  the  British  jurisdiction,  and  the  state  of 
society  was  anything  but  desirable.  A  free  school  was  opened  for 
native  children,  and  soon  had  fifty  scholars.  A  boarding  school  in 
English  was  also  established.  "Often,"  said  Mr.  Carey,  "the  name 
of  Christ  alone  is  sufficient  to  make  a  dozen  of  our  hearers  file  off 
at  once;  and  sometimes  to  produce  thfe  most  vile,  blasphemous, 
insulting  and  malicious  opposition  from  those  that  hear  us.  We, 
however,  rather  look  upon  this  as  a  token  for  good,  for  till  very 
lately  no  one  ever  opposed ;  they  were  too  fast  asleep."  The  con- 
version of  Mr.  Carey's  sons,  Felix  and  William,  gave  him  fresh 
encouragement,  and  this  was  soon  followed  by  the  gathering  of  their 
first  convert  from  heathenism. 


7-i  WILLIAM    CAREY. 

On  the  27tli  of  November,  1800,  Mr,  Carey  mentioned  visiting  n 
man  named  Krishnu,  who  had  dislocated  his  shoulder,  who  came  to 
the  missionaries  a  few  days  after,  accompanied  by  Yokul,  a  friend 
who  had  been  much  impressed  with  the  truths  of  the  gospel.  Both 
soon  declared  themselves  believers,  together  with  Krishnu's  wife  and 
sister-indaw.  The  two  men  broke  caste  December  22d,  by  eating 
with  the  missionaries,  and  on  that  evening,  together  with  the  women 
and  Felix  Carey,  were  received  by  the  church  for  baptism.  On  the 
29th  Mr.  Carey  "had  the  happiness  to  desecrate  the  Ganges  by  bap- 
tizing the  first  Hindoo,"  Krishnu,  and  also  his  son  Felix,  some  cir- 
cumstances having  delayed  the  profession  of  the  other  candidates. 
The  joy  of  the  mission  was  great,  the  excitement  among  the  natives 
intense.  Krishnu's  daughter  was  seriously  impressed.  Unfortu- 
nately she  had  been  married  Avhen  a  child,  as  is  usual  in  India,  to  a 
lad  at  Calcutta,  and  as  she  was  now  reluctant  to  consummate  the 
alliance  with  a  heathen,  the  people  made  a  tumultuous  assault  on  the 
house,  and  dragged  Krishnu  with  his  wife  and  daughter  to  prison. 
The  governor  immediately  released  them,  with  the  assurance  that 
the  contract  should  not  be  enforced  against  the  girl's  inclinations. 
Two  or  three  months  after,  however,  the  husband  came,  and  forcibly 
abducted  her  to  Calcutta.  Efforts  were  made  in  that  city  to  procure 
redress,  but  the  authorities  declared  that  while  she  should  have  the 
free  exercise  of  her  religion,  a  Christian  profession  could  not  inval- 
idate the  marriage  bond.  The  decision,  however  just  and  unavoid- 
able, was  not  less  trying  to  the  faith  of  her  unhappy  parents. 

The  joyful  excitement  caused  by  these  first  triumphs  over  hea- 
thenism is  supposed  to  have  hastened  the  development  of  that 
mental  disorder  to  which  Mr.  Thomas  was  constitutionally  liable, 
and  he  was  committed  to  an  hospital.  His  eccentricities  of  beha- 
vior, while  their  true  cause  was  hardl}^  suspected,  had  severely  tried 
his  associates,  who  yet  admired  his  zeal  and  versatile  capacity,  and 
regarded  him  as  a  valuable  auxiliary.* 

Mr.  Carey  wrote  to  Dr.  Ryland,  June  15th,  1801,  a  pleasing  notice 
of  the  success  of  the  mission  up  to  that  time,  with  a  description  of 
the  first  converts,  that  must  have  been  received  by  the  brethren  at 
home  as  a  most  precious  and  satisfying  result  of  their  patient  eftbrts. 
"God  has  given  us  some  from  among  the  heathen,"  he  says,  "and 

*  He  was  shortly  restored  to  society,  but  his  constitution  was  enfeebled,  and  he 
died  a  few  montiis  after. 


WILLIAM     CAREY.  75 

some  from  among  Europeans  and  others.  We  have  baptized,  since 
the  last  day  of  December,  five  Hindoos,  the  Last  of  whom,  a  man 
whose  name  is  Gokul,  was  baptized  June  7th.  We  hope  for  another 
or  two.  These  give  us  much  pleasure.  Yet  we  need  great  prudence, 
for  they  are  but  a  larger  sort  of  children,  compared  with  Europeans ; 
we  are  obliged  to  encourage,  to  strengthen,  to  counteract,  to  advise, 
to  disapprove,  to  teach;  and  yet  to  do  all  so  as  to  retain  their  warm 
affections. 

"The  manner  in  which  our  Hindoo  friends  recommend  the  gos- 
pel to  others  is  very  pleasing.  They  speak  of  the  love  of  Christ  in 
suffering  and  dying,  and  this  appears  to  be  all  in  all  with  them. 
Their  conversation  with  others  is  somewhat  like  the  following.  A 
man  says,  'Well,  Krishnu,  you  have  left  off  all  the  customs  of  your 
ancestors — what  is  the  reason?'  Krishnu  says,  'Only  have  patience, 
and  I  will  inform  you.  I  am  a  great  sinner;  I  tried  the  Hindoo 
worship,  but  got  no  good :  after  a  while  I  heard  of  Christ,  that  he 
was  incarnate,  laboured  much,  and  at  last  laid  down  his  life  for  sin- 
ners. I  thought.  What  love  is  this!  And  here  I  made  my  resting 
place.  Now  say  if  anything  like  this  love  was  ever  shown  by  any 
of  your  gods?' — You  know  that  they  only  sought  their  own  ease,  and 
had  no  love  for  any  one  I'  This  is  the  simple  way  in  which  they 
confront  others,  and  none  can  answer  except  by  railing,  which  they 
bear  patiently,  and  glory  in." 

In  this  letter  he  also  communicated,  with  that  modesty  which  was 
his  invariable  characteristic,  the  fact  that  he  had  been  appointed 
teacher  of  Bengali  and  Sanscrit,  in  the  college  of  Fort  William. 
The  college  was  founded  by  Marquis  Wellesley,  then  Governor- 
general  of  India,  for  the  instruction  of  the  junior  civil  servants  of 
the  East  India  Company.  Certain  oaths  and  subscriptions  being 
required  of  professors  with  which  he  could  not  comply,  he  was 
ineligible  to  that  of&ce,  and  bore  the  humbler  title  of  teacher.  The 
disabling  statutes  were  subsequently  removed,  and  Mr.  Carey  was 
made  professor  of  Oriental  languages.  He  felt  great  distrust  of  his 
ability  satisfactorily  to  discharge  his  new  duties,  but  at  the  recom- 
mendation of  his  colleagues,  and  with  the  belief  that  it  would  not 
interfere  with  the  efficient  prosecution  of  his  missionary  work,  he 
accepted  the  appointment.  It  became  necessary  for  him  to  prepare 
his  own  apparatus  of  instruction,  Bengali  and  Sanscrit  grammars, 
vocabularies  and  elementary  books.  Having  no  academic  experi- 
ence, he  was  obliged  to  strike  out  his  own  path;  and  it  may  be 


y^ 


76  WILLIAM    CAREY. 

readilj^  imagined  that  all  bis  habitual  diligence  and  strictness  of 
method  were  required  to  perform  these  tasks,  and  yet  save  the  first 
and  most  sacred  pursuit  of  his  life  from  entire  neglect.  This  he 
accomplished.  The  progress  of  the  mission  is  shown  in  a  letter 
under  date  of  November,  1801.  "  Hitherto  the  Lord  has  helped 
me.  I  have  lived  to  see  the  Bible  translated  into  Bengali,  and  the 
whole  New  Testament  printed.  The  first  volume  of  the  old  Testa- 
ment will  also  soon  appear.  I  have  lived  to  see  two  of  my  sons 
converted,  and  one  of  them  join  the  church  of  Christ.  I  have  lived 
to  baptize  five  native  Hindoos,  and  to  see  a  sixth  baptized ;  and  to 
see  them  walk  worthy  of  their  vocation  for  twelve  months  since 
they  first  made  a  profession  of  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  I 
have  lived  to  see  the  temporal  concerns  of  the  mission  in  a  state  far 
beyond  my  expectation,  so  that  we  have  now  two  good  houses  con- 
tiguous to  each  other,  with  two  thousand  pounds;  a  flourishing 
school,  the  favour  of  both  the  Danish  and  English  governments, 
and,  in  short,  the  mission  almost  in  a  state  of  ability  to  maintain 
itself  Having  seen  all  this,  I  sometimes  am  almost  ready  to  say, 
'Lord,  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  according  to 
thy  word ;  for  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation.'  "  Nearlj^  two 
years  later,  (September,  1803,)  he  wrote  "The  Lord  still  smiles  upon 
us.  I  some  time  ago  baptized  three  natives  and  my  son  William. 
Our  number  of  baptized  natives  is  now  twenty-five,  and  the  whole 
number  of  church  members  thirty -nine.  I  was  greatly  pleased  with 
a  small  excursion  which  I  made,  some  little  time  ago,  in  Jessore. 
I  hope  there  is  the  foundation  of  a  work  in  those  parts.  We  have 
now  begun  to  print  the  second  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
are  about  to  publish  some  of  our  little  pamphlets  in  the  Hindoo- 
stani  language.  Dear  Pearce's  address  to  the  Lascars  is  put  into 
that  language.     We  have  also  some  thoughts  of  the  Mahrattas." 

The  necessary  absorption  of  his  faculties  in  the  work  of  transla- 
tion, was  now  such  that  he  became  jealous  lest  his  mind  might  be 
secularized  by  a  "bias  towards  seeking  out  words,  phrases  and 
idioms  of  speech."  This,  however,  he  adds,  "is  an  absolute!}^  neces- 
sary work,  and  cannot  be  done  without  much  repeated  and  close 
attention,  and  frequent  revision.  I  therefore  comfort  myself  with 
the  thought  that  I  am  in  the  work  of  the  Lord."  So  manifest  was 
it  that  his  fitness  for  the  work  and  his  fiwourable  position  alike  called 
him  to  undertake  greater  things  in  this  department  of  labour,  that 


WILLIAM    CAKEY.  77 

we  soon  find  him  widening  his  field  of  exertion.  Within  five  months 
he  reports  himself  as  engaged  in  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into 
the  Hindoostani,  Persian,  Mahratta  and  Ookul  languages,  and 
intending  to  undertake  more.  At  the  same  time  the  mission  was 
extended  by  establishing  subordinate  stations  in  the  interior. 
Besides  his  philological  labours,  he  regularly  preached  twice  in  the 
week,  once  in  Bengali  and  once  in  English.  Ilis  correspondence 
with  friends  in  England  was  naturall}''  less  frequent,  but  he  occa- 
sionally noted  facts  of  cheering  interest.  In  August,  1804,  he  men- 
tioned that  eight  persons  had  been  baptized  during  the  year,  and 
that  three  or  four  were  expecting  shortly  to  profess  Christ.  A  year 
later  he  remarked  that  several  "  appeared  in  Calcutta  and  its  neigh- 
bourhood to  be  inquiring  in  earnest  what  they  must  do  to  be 
saved ;"  that  Krishnu  had  his  hands  full  in  going  to  visit  and  con- 
verse with  them,  and  that  in  one  village  seven  persons  were  awak- 
ened by  receiving  small  pamphlets.  The  year  1805  was  in  fact  the 
most  prosperous  the  mission  had  seen,  twenty-seven  natives  having 
been  baptized. 

To  his  other  duties  was  now  added  the  execution  of  a  series  of 
translations  from  the  Sanscrit,  for  the  Asiatic  Society.  His  San- 
scrit Grammar,  a  work  of  immense  labour,  appeared  in  1806,  and  in 
that  year  was  commenced  the  enterprise  with  which  Mr.  Carey's 
fame  is  most  completely  identified, — the  translation  of  the  Scriptures 
into  all  the  languages  of  the  East.  Adventurous  as  such  an  under- 
taking might  seem,  it  was  begun  and  carried  forward  with  all  the 
sobriety  which  characterized  his  plans.  Learned  natives,  assembled 
from  the  different  countries  and  provinces,  each  translated  the  Bible 
into  his  own  tongue,  from  some  version  already  prepared  in  a  lan- 
guage with  which  he  was  acquainted,  Mr.  Carey  revising  the  ver- 
sions as  they  proceeded.  Translations  thus  prepared,  must  have 
been  of  course  imperfect,  but  he  had  the  evidence  that  they  were 
intelligible,  and  could  be  made  the  vehicles  of  divine  truth  into 
regions  where  the  living  missionary  was  not  likely  soon  to  go,  and 
where  a  still  longer  time  must  elapse  before  more  accurate  versions 
could  be  produced. 

The  hostility  of  the  East  India  government,  which  had  now  for 
some  time  appeared  to  slumber,  was  displayed  in  an  order  forbidding 
public  preaching  in  the  Lai  Bazaar,  Calcutta,  where  a  chapel  had 
been  recently  opened,  the  sending  of  "emissaries"  from  Seramporo 


78  WILLIAM    CAREY. 

into  the  British  territories,  and  the  distribution  of  tracts  Two  mis- 
sionaries, Messrs.  Chater  and  Robinson,  who  had  just  arrived  from 
England,  were  at  first  ordered  to  return,  and  it  was  not  without  some 
difficulty  that  they  got  leave  to  proceed  to  Serampore.  These  pro- 
ceedings caused  alarm,  but  the  purport  of  them  was  softened  down 
on  remonstrance  with  the  council,  and  things  went  on  much  as  usual. 
The  next  year,  however,  similar  orders  were  put  forth,  based  on  the 
pretence  that  a  mutiny  and  massacre  by  native  troops  at  Vellore 
was  stimulated  by  alarm  at  the  operations  of  the  mission.  There 
was  no  truth  in  this,  and  the  rigour  of  the  government  was  again 
relaxed.  But  the  tale  was  wafted  to  England,  and  a  warm  contro- 
vers}''  was  commenced  there,  in  which  the  Directors  of  the  East  India 
Company  declared  open  hostility  to  all  missionary  enterprises  in 
India.  A  war  of  pamphlets  followed,  and  the  leading  reviews  took 
sides  in  the  contest.  The  Edinburgh,  by  the  pen  of  Rev.  Sydney 
Smith,  the  "dazzling  fence"  of  whose  wit  has  blinded  many  to  the 
rancour  with  which  he  ever  treated  evangelical  piety  and  its  profess, 
ors,  whether  in  or  out  of  the  establishment,  lent  its  full  strength  to 
crush  the  mission.*  The  London  Quarterly  Review,  in  an  article 
from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Southey,  though  treating  Dr.  Carey  and  his 
associates  with  that  sort  of  mingled  pity  and  aversion  which  might 
be  expected  from  one  professing  his  political  and  religious  opinions, 
vindicated  the  duty  of  propagating  the  Christian  faith  among  the 
heathen,  and  rendered  a  cordial  tribute  to  the  zeal  and  success  of 
the  Serampore  brethren.  Rev.  Claudius  Buchanan,  who  had  been 
for  some  years  chaplain  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  warmly 
interested  in  the  spread  of  the  gospel,  bj^  some  timely  and  forcible 
publications  did  eminent  service  to  the  cause  of  truth.  The  Com- 
pany were  compelled  to  retreat  from  their  unchristian  position,  and 
(to  anticipate  the  final  result)  on  the  renewal  of  their  charter  in  1813, 
a  provision  was  inserted  for  the  toleration  of  Christian  missions,  by 
which  all  further  vexatious  interference  with  their  operations  was 
prevented. 

Mrs.  Carey,  who  had  been  for  twelve  years  in  a  state  of  mental 

*  The  exuberant  wit  of  the  irreverent  author,  and  the  reputation  of  the  work  in 
which  they  appeared,  have  given  to  his  articles  in  the  view  of  ninny  an  importance 
they  by  no  means  deserve,  and  they  are  sometimes  cited  as  proofs  of  the  low  st^ite 
of  public  opinion  at  that  time.  But  that  they  did  not  represent  the  real  sentiment 
of  tlie  country,  tlie  decisive  action  of  Parliament,  legalizing  both  the  Church  ani 
Dissenting  missions,  conclusively  proved. 


WILLIAM    CAREY.  79 

derangement,  was  removed  by  death  January  8,  1808.  Dr.  Carey, 
a  few  months  afterwards,  married  Miss  Eumohr,  a  German  lady,  of 
a  noble  family  in  Schleswig,  for  some  years  resident  in  Calcutta,  one 
of  those  Europeans  whose  conversion  was  among  the  first  results 
that  cheered  the  missionaries  in  the  beginning  of  their  enterprise. 
Under  date  of  January  18,  he  wrote, — "I  have  latel}^  made  a 
comparison  between  the  state  of  India  when  I  first  landed  here,  and 
its  present  state  as  it  respects  the  progress  of  the  gospel;  which  I 
shall  send  you.  When  I  arrived  I  knew  of  no  person  in  Bengal  who 
cared  about  the  gospel,  except  Mr.  Brown,  Mr.  Udney,  Mr.  Creigh- 
ton,  Mr.  Grant,  and  Mr.  Brown,  an  indigo  planter,  besides  brother 
Thomas  and  myself.  There  might  be  more,  and  probably  were, 
though  unknown  to  me.  There  are  now  in  India  thirty-two  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel."  In  August  of  this  year,  just  as  he  had  "put  the 
finishing  touch  to  the  Bengali  Scriptures,"  he  was  brought  to  the 
borders  of  the  grave  by  a  fever,  but  was  mercifully  raised  up  to  con- 
tinue his  labours.  Little  occurred  to  diversify  them ;  in  his  corres- 
pondence he  occasionally  notes  the  successes  of  the,  mission.  In 
1810  he  mentions  an  interview  with  twenty  serious  incjuirers,  and 
]'emarks  that  "the  Lord  is  doing  great  things  for  Calcutta."  Early 
in  1812  he  states  that  Xrishnu  and  another  native  preacher  were 
zealously  and  usefully  employed  in  and -about  Calcutta,  and  that 
inquirers  were  "constantly  coming  forward."  In  addition  to  his 
other  publications,  he  engaged  in  preparing  grammars  of  the  Telinga, 
Orissa,  and  other  languages,  and  a  Bengali  dictionary. 

These  employments  were  suddenly  arrested  by  a  great  disaster,  the 
destruction  of  the  printing  office  by  fire  on  the  12th  of  March,  1812. 
All  its  contents  were  destroyed;  the  presses  being  in  an  adjoining 
building  were  spared.  Manuscripts  of  great  value,  fonts  of  type  in 
thirteen  languages,  and  a  large  quantity  of  paper  were  the  principal 
items  of  the  loss.  The  news  of  the  calamity  was  received  in  Eng- 
land and  America  with  a  general  expression  of  sympathy,  and  large 
contributions  were  raised  in  consequence.  The  Mission  was  not  to 
be  disheartened.  The  matrices  of  the  original  type  were  not  lost, 
and  with  the  type-metal  melted  down  in  the  fire  they  commenced 
vigorously  replacing  the  several  fonts,  so  that  within  a  twelvemonth 
everything  was  once  more  in  successful  operation,  "  We  have  been 
enabled,"  says  Dr.  Carey,  March  25,  1813,  "within  one  year  from  a 
very  desolating  calamity,  to  carry  on  our  printing  to  a  greater  extent 
than  before  it  took  place."     In  the  same  letter,  after  enumerating  his 


80  WILLIAM    CAREY. 

various  pliilological  labours,  in  addition  to  all  bis  pastoral  and  colle- 
giate duties,  be  remarks, — "I  can  scarcely  call  an  bour  in  a  week 
my  own.  I,  bowever,  rejoice  in  my  work  and  deligbt  in  it.  It  is 
clearing  tbe  way  and  providing  materials  for  tbose  wbo  succeed  us 
to  work  upon.  I  bave  mucb  for  wbicb  to  bless  tbe  Lord.  I  trust 
all  my  cbildren  know  tbe  Lord  in  trutb.  I  bave  every  family  and 
domestic  blessing  I  can  wisb,  and  many  more  tban  I  could  bave 
expected.  Tbe  work  of  tbe  Lord  prospers.  Tbe  cburcli  at  Calcutta 
is  now  become  very  large,  and  still  increases."  In  August,  1814,  be 
gives  a  list  of  twenty-six  languages  into  wbicb  tbe  Scriptures  were 
translating,  yet,  witb  tbat  self-distrust  wbicb  sometimes  degenerated 
(in  Dr.  Ryland's  words)  into  "  wild  bumility,"  be  complains  of  a  want 
of  fervency  in  bis  work,  and  of  "tbat  energy  wbicb  makes  every 
duty  a  pleasure." 

In  1817  began  a  misunderstanding  witb  tbe  Baptist  Missionary 
Society  respecting  tbe  mission  property  at  Serampore,  wbicb  inter- 
rupted tbeir  barmonious  cooperation,  and  after  ten  years  of  contro- 
versy resulted  in  tbe  separation  of  tbe  mission  from  tbe  parent 
society.  Tbese  events,  bowever,  did  not  impair  tbe  regard  of  Dr. 
Carey  for  tbose  of  bis  early  friends  wbo  survived  after  tbe  lapse 
of  years,  or  interrupt  bis  cordial  sympatby  and  cooperation  witb 
tbe  missionaries  wbo  laboured  under  tbe  Society's  direction. 

Having  mucb  at  beart  tbe  improvement  of  agriculture  in  India, 
be  issued  in  1820  a  circular  on  tbat  subject,  wbicb  resulted  in  tbe 
formation  of  an  agricultural  society.  In  May  of  tbe  following  year 
be  was  afflicted  by  tbe  loss  of  bis  second  wife.  "  My  loss,"  be  said, 
"is  irreparable.  If  tbere  ever  was  a  true  Cbristian  in  tbis  world,  sbe 
was  one.  We  bad  frequently  conversed  upon  tbe  separation  wbicb 
deatb  would  make,  and  botb  desired  tbat  if  it  were  tbe  will  of  God 
sbe  migbt  be  first  removed,  and  so  it  was."* 

About  tbis  time  tbe  king  of  Denmark  sent  to  Messrs.  Carey, 
Marsbman  and  "Ward  a  letter,  expressing  bis  approbation  of  tbeir 
labours,  accompanied  by  a  gold  medal  for  eacb ;  and  a  fortnigbt  after 
an  order  arrived  to  convey  to  tbe  mission  a  large  bouse  and  grounds 
belonging  to  bis  majesty.     In  1823,  Dr.  Carey  was  elected  a  fellow 

*  Dr.  Carey  luarricd  a  third  time,  but  his  biographer  does  not  seem  to  have 
thought  the  transaction  or  the  name  of  his  partner  worth  mentioning.  In  respect 
to  dates  and  various  matters  of  detail,  his  life  is  very  imperfectly  written,  and  many 
deficiencies  the  editor  has  found  no  materials  to  supply 


WILLIAM    CAREY.  81 

of  tlie  Linnoean  Society,  a  member  of  the  Geological  Society,  and 
corresponding  member  of  the  Horticultural  Society,  of  London. 
Towards  the  close  of  the  year,  having  been  to  Calcutta  to  preach, 
as  he  was  stepping  from  the  boat  on  his  return,  his  foot  slipped,  and 
he  fell  heavily  to  the  ground,  causing  a  violent  contusion  of  the 
hip-joint.  Ten  days  after,  a  violent  fever  attacked  him,  by  which 
he  was  confined  for  several  weeks.  He  was  unable  to  resume  his 
ordinary  duties  till  the  beginning  of  January,  when  he  applied  him- 
self to  his  labours  with  unwonted  assiduity,  working  extra  hours 
daily  to  recover  lost  time.  His  Bengali  dictionary  was  published  in 
1825.  But  his  constitution  had  received  a  shock  from  which  it  never 
recovered.  Fevers  and  other  disorders  attacked  him  with  increased 
frequency,  and  he  began  to  narrow  the  circle  of  his  employments, 
concentrating  his  strength  on  a  few  of  the  translations,  and  especially 
revising  with  great  care  his  Bengali  version  of  the  Scriptures,  the 
work  with  which  his  labours  in  this  department  commenced,  and 
with  which  they  closed.  The  revised  edition  was  published  in  1830. 
He  was  now  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age,  and  increasing 
infirmities  warned  him  that  he  must  prepare  to  depart.  He  looked 
forward  to  the  change  that  awaited  him,  with  the  same  cheerful  but 
humble  serenity  which  had  characterized  him  during  his  whole  life. 
He  expressed  a  profound  consciousness  of  his  own  unworthiness, 
with  an  unshaken  trust  in  the  Divine  mercy,  through  the  intercession 
of  the  Saviour,  and  a  fervent  desire  for  entire  sanctification.  "  I  trust," 
he  said,  "I  am  ready  to  die  through  the  grace  of  my  Lord  Jesus,  and 
I  look  forward  to  the  full  enjoyment  of  the  society  of  holy  men 
and  angels,  and  the  full  vision  of  God  for  evermore."  "It  is  from 
the  same  source,"  he  said  in  another  communication,  "that  I  expect 
the  fulfilment  of  all  the  prophecies  and  promises  respecting  the 
universal  establishment  of  the  Eedeemer's  kingdom  in  the  world, 
the  abolition  also  of  war,  slavery  and  oppression.  It  is  on  this 
ground  that  I  pray  for  and  expect  the  peace  of  Jerusalem ;  not 
merely  the  cessation  of  hostilities  between  Christians  of  different 
sects  and  connections,  but  that  genuine  love  which  the  gospel 
requires,  and  which  the  gospel  is  so  well  calculated  to  produce." 
In  this  state  of  mind,  with  increasing  weakness  of  body,  he  con- 
tinued till  the  9th  of  June,  1834,  when  he  "fell  asleep."  In  his  will 
he  requested  that  he  might  be  buried  by  the  side  of  his  second  wife, 
and  that  on  the  stone  which  commemorates  her  should  be  cut  "the 
following  inscription,  and  nothing  more:"  — 
6 


82  Y.'ILLIAM    CAREY.    . 

"WILLIAM  CAREY,  BORN  AUGUST  17,  1761 ;   DIED  — . 

"'A  WRETCHED,  POOR  AND  HELPLESS  WORM, 
ON  THY  KIND  ARMS  I  FALL.'" 

Forty  years  had  elapsed  since  Mr.  Carey  arrived  in  India.  He 
found  a  populous  empire  of  idolators,  of  whom  a  few  individuals 
only  had  heard  the  gospel,  a  European  community  regardless  of 
every  form  of  piety,  and  disposed  to  regard  the  promulgation  of 
Christianity  with  scarcely  less  hostility  than  the  most  besotted 
heathen,  and  a  government  whose  policy  was  in  a  considerable 
degree  directed  in  the  same  spirit.  lie  left  England  at  a  time  when 
great  apathy  prevailed  among  evangelical  Christians  on  the  subject 
of  missions,  while  undisguised  enmity  was  manifested  among  the 
influential  classes  of  society.  Destitute  of  that  pervading  sympathy 
which  from  all  Protestant  Christendom  now  cheers  and  sustains  the 
mission ar}^,  harassed  by  the  Indian  government,  tried  by  domestic 
calamities,  and  by  apprehensions  with  respect  to  his  means  of  support, 
he  yet  went  forward,  strong  in  the  consciousness  that  he  was  in  the 
path  of  duty,  animated  by  a  warm  desire  to  impart  the  knowledge 
of  salvation  to  the  perishing,  and  firmly  assured  by  his  faith  in  the 
Divine  promises,  that  his  labours  would  not  be  lost.  He  lived  to 
see  the  political  obstacles  to  the  enterprise  overcome,  evangelical 
Christians  in  both  hemispheres  aroused  to  the  work  of  preaching 
the  Avord  of  life  to  all  nations,  and  the  first-fruits  of  the  Gospel 
springing  up  and  maturing  under  his  eye.  At  Serampore,  Calcutta 
and  several  stations  in  the  interior  of  Bengal,  the  truth  was  preached 
with  success,  and  was  carried  far  into  the  heart  of  Hindostan,  while 
other  denominations,  both  of  England  and  America,  entered  the  field 
to  cooperate  in  the  same  beneficent  work.  If  the  fervent  hopes 
with  which  he  commenced  his  labours  were  in  some  degree  chastened 
by  his  experience  of  its  difficulties,  his  sober  expectations,  founded 
on  immutable  promises,  were  richly  confirmed  by  the  solid  and  steady 
process  which  was  visibly  crumbling  the  fabric  of  heathenism,  and 
framing  from  the  disintegrated  fragments  lively  stones  for  the  erection 
of  a  spiritual  temple  to  the  glory  of  God.  He  was  himself  permitted 
to  bear  a  distinguished  part  in  the  enterprise.  The  publication  of 
the  entire  Scriptures  in  several  of  the  most  widely  spoken  tongues 
of  India,  and  the  translation  of  important  portions  into  forty  differ- 
ent languages  and  dialects  of  the  east,  form  a  monument  that  any 
of  his  contemporaries,  in  an  age  crowded  with  extraordinary  men 
and  events,  might  have  reason  to  envy. 


WILLIAM    CARET.  83 

All  tills  was  achieved, — by  tlie  grace  of  God, — without  anytliing 
of  what  is  commonly  denominated  genius,  unless  he  may  be  said  to 
have  had  a  genius  for  patient  labour.  "  I  can  do  one  thing,"  he  said ; 
"I  can plody  Kesolute,  unwearied,  well-ordered  industry,  directed 
by  unselfish  aims,  made  him  a  successful  preacher,  a  useful  pastor, 
a  thorough  philologist,  a  devoted  missionary.  The  same  force,  under 
the  control  of  a  worldly  ambition,  might  have  borne  him  to  a  higher 
place  in  the  view  of  his  contemporaries,  and  perhaps  of  a  later  age, 
but  could  not  have  enabled  him  to  say  on  his  death-bed,  as  he  is 
recorded  to  have  said,  "I  have  not  a  single  desire  unsatisfied." — • 
Yet,  while  we  recognise  in  his  humble  appreciation  of  his  own  gifts 
a  substantial  truth,  and  one  full  of  encouragement  to  those  who  unite 
a  desire  of  usefulness  to  a  distrust  of  their  ability  to  achieve  it,  it 
must  be  said  (with  devout  gratitude  to  Him  who  gave  such  a  man 
to  the  church  and  to  the  world)  that  he  possessed  a  mind  of  more 
than  ordinary  power.  With  unfailing  energy  of  purpose,  he  had 
robustness  of  intellect  to  endure  sustained  exertion.  An  active 
curiosit}^,  nice  powers  of  observation,  a  retentive  memory  and  a  large 
share  of  good  sense,  are  excellent  helps  in  plodding,  and  these  he 
possessed  in  an  eminent  degree.  He  preferred  the  solid  to  the  bril- 
liant, and  aspired  to  be  useful  rather  than  distinguished. 

To  these  qualities  were  added  in  rich  measure  the  graces  of  the 
Spirit.  Naturally  self-willed,  opinionated  and  inclined  to  "seek 
great  things  for  himself,"  from  the  hour  when  he  took  up  his  cross 
he  earnestly  cultivated  that  meekness,  purity,  benevolence,  and  per- 
petual aspiration  after  holiness,  which  have  the  special  benediction 
of  his  Lord  and  Master;  and  while  in  this  spirit  he  "attempted  great 
things  for  Grod,"  his  lowliness  of  mind  effectually  repressed  that  vain 
elation  which  could  permit  him  to  slacken  his  endeavours  at  any 
point,  through  the  self-satisfaction  of  partial  success.  His  soul  was 
absorbed  in  the  contemplation  of  his  Eedeemer's  glory,  his  strongest 
desire  was  to  aid  in  its  consummation,  and  all  other  things  were 
rejected  as  but  trifles  of  the  hour.  Loud  as  was  the  clamour  of  polit- 
ical strife,  terrible  as  seemed  the  shaking  of  the  nations,  during  all 
the  early  part  of  his  career,  he  seems  to  have  scarcely  bestowed  a 
thought  upon  the  whole.  One  may  read  his  published  correspond- 
ence throughout  without  detecting  a  consciousness  of  the  existence 
of  Napoleon,  so  entirely  was  his  soul  preoccupied.  He  was  com- 
missioned by  one  "stronger  than  the  strong  man  armed,"  to  make 
conquests  for  an  everlasting  kingdom,  and  felt  that  he  had  no  lei- 


84  WILLIAM    CAREY. 

sure  to  observe  the  times  and  tlie  seasons.  The  love  of  Christ  which 
animated  his  soul,  and  constrained  him  to  live  for  such  holy  ends, 
was  directed  towards  all  who  were  partakers  of  the  same  grace. 
Assurance  of  hope  and  faith  made  him  uniformly  cheerful,  under 
discouragements  that  all  his  natural  buoyancy  of  feeling  would  have 
been  too  weak  to  encounter.  It  was  because  he  was  labouring  not 
for  himself  nor  in  his  own  strength,  that  he  never  fainted.  For  the 
like  reason  he  rejected  all  craft  and  subtlety.  Simplicity  and  purity 
of  purpose  made  him  simple  and  frank  in  his  demeanour.  Conceal- 
ment was  foreign  to  his  nature,  because  the  spirit  of  selfishness  was 
so  far  exorcised  that  he  cherished  no  plans  which  required  artifice. 
He  had  a  single  aim — the  glory  of  God  through  the  salvation  of 
men — to  this  he  devoted  his  life,  and  he  was  faithful  unto  death. 


JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN. 


Northamptonshire,  the  county  of  Carey's  nativity,  was  also  the 
birth-place  of  John  Chamberlain,  a  faithful  and  successful  co-la- 
bourer in  the  evangelization  of  India.  He  was  born  at  Welton  in 
the  year  1777.  His  parents  were  poor,  but  industrious,  and  gave 
him  the  best  education  their  circumstances  could  afford.  In  his 
infancy  he  was  weak  and  delicate ;  at  three  years  of  age  he  had  a 
fever,  by  which  he  lost  the  hearing  of  one  ear,  and  never  recovered 
it.  His  mental  growth  was  rapid.  He  was  unable  to  remember 
when  he  learned  to  read,  his  earliest  recollections  terminating  with 
the  school-room,  where  he  stood  by  the  mistress,  reading  from  a 
Testament  with  boys  older  than  himself.  During  his  subsequent 
school  career  he  made  it  a  point  to  keep  the  start  which  he  gained 
at  the  outset.  His  childhood  was  marked  by  profound  religious 
impressions.  He  durst  not,  he  says,  do  anything  he  thought  sinful. 
"At  that  early  period  I  used  to  attempt  to  pray.  When  I  went  to 
meeting  I  was  delighted  with  the  singing,  and  united  with  all  my 
might  to  give  vent  to  my  rapture.  Sometimes,  then,  some  glimmer- 
ings of  divine  truth  illumined  my  mind,  which  at  least  prepared 
me  for  after  days,  I  thank  my  God  for  parents  who,  though  poor, 
taught  me  to  read  the  Bible,  and  took  me  to  hear  the  word  of 
God  preached.  Ah!  how  much  I  owe  to  the  care  of  my  dear 
mother!" 

These  pious  feelings,  though  cultivated  by  faithful  instruction 
and  the  study  of  the  Scriptures,  gradually  wore  off.  At  the  age  of 
twelve  years  he  was  separated  from  the  home  of  his  childhood  to 
enter  the  service  of  a  farmer  at  Market-Harborough,  in  Leicester- 
shire— this  employment  having  been  selected  in  preference  to  me- 
chanical labour,  for  which  he  was  originally  intended,  on  account 
of  his  slender  physical  strength,  which  it  was  thought  would  be  ' 
invigorated  by  working  in  the  open  air.  To  part  from  his  parents 
cost  him  much  pain,  and  for  some  time  he  embraced  frequent 
opportunities  of  retirement  to  pray  for  them  and  to  meditate  on  the 


86  JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN. 

past.  His  religious  feelings  were  kept  alive  and  occasionally  deep- 
ened, under  tlie  faithful  ministr}-  enjoyed  there,  though  he  lamented 
their  inconstancy.  In  view  of  the  feebleness  of  his  most  fervent 
resolutions,  he  gained  a  deeper  insight  into  the  deceitfulness  and 
depravity  of  his  heart,  till  he  found  his  need,  and  was  ready  to 
accept  the  Divine  proffer,  of  strength  in  the  Eedeemer  alone.  His 
hopes  were  not  fully  established,  however,  till  a  subsequent  period. 
In  179-i  he  removed  to  Burby,  Northamptonshire,  where,  under 
the  evangelical  ministry  of  Dr.  Bridges,  he  had  much  religious 
enjoyment  for  a  time;  but  he  relapsed  into  a  state  of  comparative 
indifference,  disturbed,  as  was  inevitable,  by  his  conscience,  which 
he  could  not  put  to  sleep.  The  following  year  he  lived  at  Brunston, 
in  the  same  count3^  The  clergyman  was  anti-evangelical,  his  master 
made  him  promise  to  avoid  dissenting  worship,  and  he  frequented 
a  neighbouring  church,  where  the  gospel  was  preached  once  in  two 
weeks  by  Dr.  Bridges.  He  gained  permission,  with  some  difficulty, 
to  go  for  once  to  "meeting."  The  sermon  went  to  his  heart,  and 
from  this  time  he  began  a  consistent  and  happy  Christian  course, 
though  he  regarded  the  change  as  but  the  conscious  completion  of 
a  work  that  had  been  in  progress  for  a  considerable  period.  He 
obtained  leave  to  repeat  his  visit  to  that  place  of  worship,  and 
thenceforth  continued  his  attendance,  though  compelled  to  meet 
opposition  and  reproach.  From  this  he  was  delivered  in  1796,  by 
becoming  an  inmate  of  a  serious  family,  the  master  of  which,  the 
house-keeper,  one  of  his  fellow-servants  and  himself,  with  eleven 
others,  were  baptized  by  Eev.  Mr.  Simmons,  Baptist  minister  of 
Guilsborough. 

It  was  in  October  of  this  year  that  his  attention  was  first  called  to 
the  subject  of  missions,  by  reports  of  the  labours  of  Carey  and 
Thomas  in  India,  and  by  the  discourses  delivered  at  the  recent  form- 
ation of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  The  reading  of  these  ser- 
mons, particularly,  kindled  an  ardent  flame  in  his  breast.  "I  then 
y  felt,"  he  says,  "a  burning  zeal  for  the  welfare  of  the  heathen. 
Sometimes  I  thought  I  could  die  in  the  cause,  and  triumph  in  the 
tortures  of  a  fire.  My  hopes  were  directed  to  India,  though  I  saw 
no  way  how  they  could  be  fulfilled."  The  apparent  impossibility 
of  gratifying  these  feelings  by  a  direct  participation  in  missionary 
labour  led  to  their  suppression  for  a  time,  but  the  same  ruling  prin- 
ciple that  led  him  to  aspire,  as  he  thought  vainly,  to  the  privilege 


JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN.  87 

of  prcacliing  tlie  gospel  to  the  heathen,  forbade  him  to  be  unem- 
ployed at  home. 

On  removing  to  Nasby,  to  live  with  a  Mr.  Haddon,  he  set  about 
establishing  a  Sunday  school  and  prayer  meetings,  which  he  attended 
as  regularly  as  possible.  But  unsatisfied  with  what  he  was  able  to 
accomplish  in  his  circumstances,  he  determined  to  learn  some  me- 
chanical trade,  in  order  that  he  might  secure  more  time  for  religious 
usefulness.  While  revolving  this  project  in  his  mind,  his  master 
had  become  acquainted  with  his  missionary  fervour,  and  made  a  dis- 
closure of  his  feelings  to  some  ministers.  They  were  pleased  with 
the  account  they  received,  and  recommended  him  to  the  committee 
of  the  Baptist  Missionary  Society.  <  The  result  was  that  on  Septem- 
ber 20,  1798,  he  was  accepted  "as  a  probationer  for  missionary 
undertakings,"  and  commenced  his  studies  under  the  care  of  Mr. 
Sutcliff  at  Olney. 

The  prospect  of  gratifying  his  long-cherished  wishes  awoke  a 
feeling  of  anxiety  lest  he  should  be  unfit  for  the  responsibilities  of 
the  work,  and  he  entered  on  his  preparations  with  solemn  resolutions 
to  cultivate  habits  of  earnest  and  constant  devotion,  to  nourish  an 
ardent  love  for  souls,  and  to  study  continual  activity  for  their  sake. 
He  continued  at  Olney  nearly  a  year,  during  which  time  his  journal 
shows  him  to  have  been  watchful  in  self-examination,  quick  to 
reprove  himself  for  any  lapses  from  the  standard  of  attainment  he 
had  set  up,  and  seeking  every  occasion  of  improvement  and  oppor- 
tunity to  do  good.  He  read  the  lives  of  eminent  Christians,  espe- 
cially of  missionaries,  that  he  might  feed  the  flame  of  self-devotion 
and  emulate  the  spirit  that  actuated  them.  Sometimes,  while  weigh- 
ing his  motives  and  analyzing  his  feelings,  he  was  brought  into  a 
state  of  deep  despondenc}'-,  but  the  process,  though  a  painful  one, 
and  perhaps,  we  may  judge,  carried  at  times  to  a  morbid  extreme, 
such  as  a  studious  and  contemplative  life  is  liable  to  induce,  had 
upon  the  whole  a  purifying  and  strengthening  effect.  His  intimacy 
with  Mr.  Brunsdon,  then  a  fellow-student,  who  went  out  in  company 
with  Mr.  A¥ard  to  India  in  Ma}^,  1799,  was  a  source  of  much  enjoy- 
ment, and  the  parting  with  him  was  a  trial  painful  in  prospect,  but 
sustained  with  unlooked-for  fortitude. 

A  few  weeks  after  this  event,  the  committee  having  no  immediate 
need  of  his  services  as  a  missionary,  concluded  that  it  was  inexpe- 
dient for  him  to  remain  longer  under  their  patronage,  and  recom- 
mended him  to  remove  to  Bristol,  and  study  for  the  ministry  in  the  . 


88  JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN. 

Baptist  Academy  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Eyland,  leaving  the  place  ut 
his  future  labours  to  be  afterwards  determined.  In  the  propriety  of 
this  advice  he  cheerfully  acquiesced,  and  after  spending  a  few  weeks 
preaching  in  different  places,  entered  upon  his  academic  course. 

At  Bristol,  Mr.  Chamberlain  pursued  his  studies  and  cultivated 
habits  of  piety  with  the  same  conscientious  diligence  as  at  Oluey, 
but  added  to  these  a  degree  of  labour  much  beyond  his  previous 
eflbrts,  and  equally  above  the  standard  recognised  by  his  fellow- 
students.  Under  date  of  Sunday,  March  23d,  1800,  he  writes, 
"My  heart  was  pained  at  seeing  this  sacred  day  awfully  profaned  by 
a  number  of  boys  playing  in  the  streets.  I  spoke  to  them,  and  they 
dispersed;  but  only  from  fear  and  confusion."  A  week  later  he  says, 
"I  am  thinking  that  it  becomes  us  to  bestir  ourselves  in  this  large 
and  populous  city  in  seeking  poor  sinners,  who  are  in  the  midst  of 
darkness."  With  these  views  he  went  with  one  of  his  brethren  to 
ascertain  the  practicability  of  preaching  to  the  poor  in  the  streets 
and  lanes,  a  course  the  legal  propriety  of  which  was  doubtful,  but 
they  were  inclined  to  attempt  it.  He  did  not,  however,  act  upon 
the  idea  till  several  weeks  later,  when  his  desire  for  increased  use- 
fulness sent  him  out  on  a  Sunday  morning  undecided  what  course 
to  pursue.  In  this  state  of  mind  he  met  a  friend,  who  asked  him 
"  why  he  was  at  home  doing  nothing,  while  souls  were  perishing  ibr 
lack  of  knowledge."  On  communicating  his  thoughts,  he  was  led 
to  a  house  where  some  people  were  gathered,  who  listened  atten- 
tively. He  soon  extended  his  labours  into  a  portion  of  the  town 
tenanted  by  the  most  poor  and  degraded  class  of  inhabitants,  "living 
in  wretchedness,  covered  with  rags  and  filth,"  He  was  well  received, 
and  on  some  days  preached  several  times  in  succession  to  different 
audiences. 

But  while  tasking  his  powers  with  stud}^,  in  which  he  found 
increasing  delight,  and  with  labours  which  gratified  his  earnest 
benevolence,  his  mind  still  turned  towards  the  great  enterprise  on 
which  it  had  been  originally  fixed.  Finding  in  the  "Baptist  Regis- 
ter "  a  Bengali  hymn  set  to  a  familiar  tune,  the  accent  of  which  suf- 
ficiently showed  the  pronunciation,  he  learned  it,  and  "spent  two  or 
three  hours  singing  Bengali.  My  heart,"  he  adds,  "was  fixed  more 
than  ever."  From  these  thoughts  he  was  turned  for  a  time  by  the 
loss  of  his  mother,  but  he  could  not  be  long  diverted  from  the  subject, 
and  the  intelligence  that  tiie  committee  of  the  Missionary  Society 


JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN".  89 

designed  reinforcing  the  Bengal  mission  awakened  mucTi  anxiety. 
Yet  he  thought  it  inexpedient  to  offer  himself,  but  waited  their  action. 
The  suspense  was  ended  in  December,  1801,  by  an  appointment,  with 
directions  to  make  immediate  preparations  for  his  departure. 

The  preparation  he  made  was  of  the  best  and  most  appropriate 
kind.  During  a  period  of  four  months  previous  to  his  embarkation 
he  carefully  counted  the  cost  of  his  undertaking,  reviewed  his  mo- 
tives, and  spent  much  time  in  devotion,  thus  girding  himself  with 
Divine  strength  to  sustain  his  own  weakness,  and  laying  the  solid 
foundation  of  peace  in  his  labours.  The  society  of  Christian  friends 
cheered  him,  while  yet  he  allowed  no  personal  or  social  enjoyments 
to  divert  his  mind  from  the  solemnities  of  his  appointed  work. 

Having  been  married  in  April,  1802,  to  an  amiable  young  woman 
with  whom  he  had  enjoyed  an  intimacy  of  several  years,  he  embarked 
on  the  15th  of  May  for  Calcutta,  by  way  of  America,  and  arrived 
at  New-York  in  July.  Thence  he  proceeded  to  Burlington,  N.  J., 
where  he  spent  a  few  days  in  the  family  of  Dr.  Staughton.  From 
this  place  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  editor  of  the  Biblical  Magazine, 
in  which  he  speaks  of  the  attentions  he  received  from  ministers  and 
others,  with  observations  on  what  he  saw,  which  show,  if  not  a  great 
degree  of  shrewdness,  a  kindly  spirit.*  He  had  occasion  to  lament 
the  deficiency  of  Missionary  zeal,  and  his  expressions  in  regard  to 
slavery  are  such  as  might  have  been  naturally  looked  for  in  one 
combining  the  character  of  an  Englishman,  a  Christian,  and  a  philan- 
thropist. He  speaks  with  much  interest  of  revivals  of  religion  that 
were  prevailing,  particularly  in  the  South-Western  States. 

He  embarked  about  the  middle  of  August  in  the  ship  Monticello, 
at  New  Castle,  Del.,  and  arrived  at  Calcutta  in  January  following. 
The  voj^age  was  not  a  very  pleasant  one,  the  captain  and  officers 
having  little  regard  for  religion;  but  the  missionary  couple,  in  the 
exchange  of  mutual  sympathies,  to  which  they  were  in  a  measure 
shut  up,  and  in  the  study  of  Divine  truth,  were  not  on  the  whole 
unhapp}^,  though  they  met  with  severe  trials,  particularly  in  the  loss 
of  a  child  given  to  them  in  mid-ocean  only  to  have  its  infant 
remains  committed  within  a  week  to  the  depths  of  the  sea. 

*  "The  people  in  America,"  he  cnsually  remarks,  "I  am  informed,  are  increasing 
in  a  disposition  to  rearf," — a  habit  to  which  we  commonly  suppose  them  to  have  been 
considerably  addicted  fur  more  than  a  century  before  Mr.  Chamberlain  was  born. 


90  JOHN    CIIAMBEliLAIX. 

On  his  arrival  at  Serampore,  Mv.  Chamberlain  entered  on  the 
study  of  the  language  with  the  ardour  to  be  expected  from  one  who 
had  so  longed  to  labour  for  the  heathen,  and  made  unusually  rapid 
progress.  He  was  accustomed  from  the  first  to  converse  as  much 
as  possible  with  the  natives,  while  he  spared  no  pains  to  become 
critically  versed  in  Bengali  writing,  as  well  as  ready  in  speech.  In 
this  Avay  he  found  himself  qualified  to  preach  in  about  a  year.  He 
addicted  himself  to  the  study  of  native  poetry,  by  which  he  became 
able  to  excite  more  ready  sympathy  in  his  hearers,  and  turned  his 
acquisitions  to  account,  also,  in  writing  hymns,  which,  if  not  distin- 
guished for  their  poetical  merit,  proved  very  useful,  and  were  sung 
by  the  native  Christians  with  great  pleasure. 

While  he  remained  at  Serampore  he  was  ready  to  bear  his  full 
part  of  the  common  duties  of  the  station,  preached  occasionally  in 
the  English  chapel,  and  assisted  in  instructing  the  young  in  English. 
He  embraced  frequent  opportvmities  of  visiting  the  native  brethren 
for  conversation  and  prayer,  thus  benefiting  both  himself  and  them. 
He  made  frequent  excursions  to  the  neighbouring  villages,  preaching 
every  where  with  zeal  and  perseverance,  and  an  abundance  of  labour 
that  was  surprising  to  his  colleagues,  addressing  crowds  of  people 
from  morning  to  night  as  if  insensible  to  fatigue. 

His  first  missionary  tour  was  undertaken  in  January,  1804,  to 
Saugur  island  at  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges, — a  place  esteemed  sacred 
by  the  Hindoos, — on  occasion  of  the  annual  festival,  accompanied 
by  Felix  Carey  and  two  of  the  native  converts.  It  being  his  first 
view  of  a  heathen  pilgrimage  on  a  large  scale,  the  great  multitude 
assembled,  their  insane  shouts  and  pitiable  superstitions,  deeply 
affected  him.  The  people  thronged  around  to  secure  books  and 
tracts,  and  an  opportunity  was  obtained  of  addressing  immense  num- 
bers, who  commonly  listened  attentively  to  what  was  uttered.  He 
preached  with  that  deep  yet  exhilarating  emotion  to  which  mission- 
aries have  frequently  attested,  springing  from  the  fact  that  the  gospel 
had  never  before  been  heard  by  the  vast  throng, — a  feeling  to  which 
ministers  in  Christian  lands  are  necessarily  strangers.  He  says, 
"Never  had  I  greater  satisfaction  than  in  this  work.  The  attention 
of  the  people  to  that  which  was  spoken,  their  eagerness  for  the  books, 
together  with  their  peculiar  circumstances,  having  never  heard  of 
the  Saviour  before,  gave  me  such  satisfaction  of  mind  as  I  cannot 
express.  I  would  not  change  my  situation  with  the  greatest  lord  in 
the  world." 


JOHN    CHAMBEPvLAIX.  91 

About  a  fortnight  after  his  return  he  was  bereaved  of  his  son, 
aged  six  months,  the  second  of  a  series  of  domestic  sorrows  with 
which  he  was  tried  in  more  than  ordinary  measure  during  the  resi- 
due of  his  life  in  India,  and  which  the  warmth  of  his  affections 
made  more  than  commonly  severe. 

The  mission  having  resolved  to  extend  its  operations  into  the 
interior  of  the  country,  Mr,  Chamberlain  was  appointed  to  com- 
mence a  new  station.  The  plan  was  to  connect  with  his  labours  the 
superintendance  of  a  trade  in  cloth,  indigo,  or  whatever  else  should 
be  most  practicable,  in  accordance  with  the  original  policy  of  the 
mission,— for  the  double  purpose  of  protection  against  interference 
from  the  government,  by  having  some  recognised  business  other 
than  preaching,  and  incidentally  to  afford  a  measure  of  relief  to  those 
who  should  be  deprived  of  employment,  and  otherwise  harassed  for 
their  change  of  religion.  The  first  object  was  for  the  time  being  a 
legitimate  one,  but  experience  is  decisive  against  holding  out  any 
expectation  of  security  to  converts  for  temporal  sacrifices  incurred 
in  a  profession  of  Christian  faith.  Sympathy  and  partial  succour 
may  and  should  be  given  by  individuals  in  such  cases,  to  the  extent 
of  their  means,  but  any  system  of  insurance  against  worldly  sacri- 
fices for  the  sake  of  the  truth  is  impracticable  and  undesirable,  how- 
ever painful  such  trials  may  be,  alike  to  those  who  suffer  and  those 
who  witness  them.  The  subsequent  change  of  policy  on  the  part 
of  the  East  Indian  government  made  the  plan  unnecessary  for  the 
protection  of  the  missionaries,  and  the  embarrassments  it  occasioned 
in  other  respects  led  to  its  ultimate  abandonment. 

Mr.  Chamberlain  made  an  excursion  to  Dinagepore  with  a  view  to 
make  the  necessary  arrangements,  and  in  about  two  months  fixed 
himself  at  Cutwa  on  the  Hooghly,  seventy -five  miles  north  of  Calcutta, 
the  station  selected  for  his  abode.  Here  he  found  a  fixed  population 
of  three  or  four  thousand,  and  had  access  daily  to  hundreds  of  peo- 
ple visiting  the  town  for  purposes  of  trade,  besides  the  thousands 
continually  passing  on  their  way  to  the  shrine  of  Juggernaut  and 
other  "holy"  places.  The  general  course  of  his  life  was  very  uni- 
form from  day  to  day — Bengali  worship  at  his  residence,  conversa- 
tions with  visitors,  of  whom  he  had  great  numbers,  curious  to  learn 
what  the  "sahib"  had  to  tell  them  of  his  "new  way,"  disputations 
in  the  bazaar,  distribution  of  tracts  and  books,  with  occasional  excur- 
sions in  the  neighbourhood  for  preaching  in  the  villages  and  on 


02  JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN. 

festival  occasions.  He  remarks  that  his  constitution  was  affected  in 
some  measure  bj  the  climate,  and  he  found  it  impossible  to  labour 
as  continuously  as  when  in  England.  He  was  more  sensible  to 
fatigue,  and  found  it  necessary  to  exchange  his  sedentary  toil  for 
something  more  active,  in  order  to  maintain  the  equilibrium  of  his 
spirits.  The  want  of  a  fellow-labourer,  in  the  midst  of  the  great 
idolatrous  mass  that  surrounded  him,  to  share  in  the  duties  and 
responsibilities  of  the  station,  and  to  lighten  the  burden  by  his  sym- 
pathy and  aid,  was  sensibly  felt  at  times,  but  his  natural  elasticity 
of  temper,  strengthened  by  an  ardent  and  unfailing  faith,  made  his 
loneliness  more  supportable  than  it  might  have  been  to  a  mind  less 
happily  constituted. 

His  instructions  were  varied  to  suit  the  temper  of  his  auditors,  but 
two  subjects  might  be  said  to  form  the  staple  of  them, — the  unrea- 
sonableness and  unsatisfying  character  of  their  idolatry,  and  the 
authorit}^  and  blessings  of  Christianity.  He  would  sometimes  inquire 
of  them  how  sinners  could  be  saved,  and  having  exposed  the  absurd- 
ity of  the  answer,  proceed  to  show  a  more  excellent  way.  Some- 
times he  called  attention  to  the  degraded  character  of  their  gods, 
their  sacred  books  being  witness,  assuring  them  that  men  who  should 
now  be  guilty  of  such  crimes  as  they  are  related  to  have  committed, 
would  most  certainly  be  hanged.  But  such  points  were  alwaj's  so 
presented  as  to  disarm  all  reasonable  offence,  and  he  was  commonly 
listened  to  with  respect  and  good  temper  by  the  majority  of  his 
hearers. 

He  was  now  called  to  pass  through  deeper  waters  of  affliction. 
Mrs.  Chamberlain  died  on  the  14th  of  November,  1804.  The  state 
of  her  health  had  occasioned  anxiety  in  the  mission  family  at 
Serampore,  and  Mr.  Marshman  proceeded  to  Cutwa  for  the  purpose 
of  bringing  her  within  the  reach  of  medical  aid  and  more  careful 
domestic  attention,  but  he  returned  with  the  bereft  husband  and  a 
motherless  babe.  Mrs.  Chamberlain  had  won,  in  no  common  degree, 
the  affections  of  all  with  whom  she  had  been  associated,  and  her 
decease  was  lamented  by  the  mission  as  a  common  loss. 

The  stricken  husband  remained  but  two  days  in  the  society  of  his 
brethren  at  Serampore, — the  grave  that  hallowed  his  garden,  and 
the  work  to  which  he  felt  bound  more  entirely  to  consecrate  himself, 
alike  called  him  irresistibly  to  Cutwa.  Of  his  labours  during  the 
succeeding  year,  he  left  no  account ;  but  a  letter  of  the  mission,  dated 
in  September,  1805,  saj^s,  "There  is  at  present  much  of  a  spirit  of 


JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN.  93 

inquiry" :  people  are  frequently  coming  to  brother  Chamberlniu  to 
hear  the  word  of  life."  About  this  time  the  mission  committed  to 
writing  a  statement  of  the  rules  by  which  they  acted,  that  they 
might  be  more  definitely  understood  and  carefully  regarded  by  each 
member.  They  were  in  substance, — to  cultivate  a  profound  sense 
of  the  infinite  value  of  souls;  to  gain  the  most  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  modes  of  thinking,  propensities,  antipathies  and  ensnaring 
superstitions  of  the  people ;  to  abstain  from  aught  that  might  tend  to 
increase  their  prejudices  against  the  gospel;  to  make  the  doctrine  of 
Christ  crucified,  after  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  the  principal  subject 
of  preaching;  to  win  the  natives  by  kindness  and  gentleness  of 
demeanour;  to  use  the  utmost  wisdom  in  watching  over  their  con- 
verts, fostering  their  gifts  and  graces  as  much  as  possible;  to  give 
special  attention  to  the  translation  and  distribution  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  to  the  establishment  of  free  schools ;  to  cultivate  earnestly  per- 
sonal religion,  and  to  cherish  a  spirit  of  entire  devotion  to  the  work. 

After  concurring  with  his  brethren  in  framing  and  signing  these 
resolutions,  Mr.  Chamberlain  returned  to  Cutwa,  and  in  November, 
1805,  gave  the  following  general  account  of  his  labours:  "I  have 
met  with  many  discouragements,  as  you  have  heard,  but  am  not  dis- 
couraged as  to  the  result  of  what  is  going  on  here.  The  conversion 
of  souls  is  the  work  of  the  Almighty,  and  subject  to  his  sovereign 
will.  Some  hopeful  appearances  have  issued  in  disappointment; 
yet  I  trust  some  good  has  been  done.  Some  thousands  of  papers 
have  been  distributed,  and  some  thousands  of  men  have  heard  the 
word  of  God.  Many  are  inquiring  after  it,  and  talking  to  their 
neighbours  about  it.  I  hear  things  that  excite  my  hope  of  some 
people  of  Jumakundee,  a  large  place,  about  thirty  miles  distant. 
This  is  a  populous  part  of  the  country.  Within  the  space  of  six 
miles  round,  I  believe  there  are  one  hundred  thousand  souls.  What 
a  momentous  charge!" 

In  the  course  of  the  Autumn,  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Grant,  a 
widow  lady  in  the  mission  family  at  Serampore,  but  in  less  than  a 
year  she  also  sank  into  the  grave,  leaving  hun  a  second  time  deso- 
late. The  shock  was  awful,  but  not  overwhelming.  He  who 
chastened,  sustained  him.  Without  pausing  to  brood  over  his  loss, 
he  girded  himself  anew  to  his  labours  of  love  among  the  heathen. 
Yov  nearly  three  years  he  had  toiled  at  his  station,  "in  season  and 
out  of  season — with  all  long  suffering,"  and  the  only  visible  fruit  had 
been  the  conversion  of  two  persons.     A  third  had  professed  himself 


9-i  JOHNCHAMBERLAIISr. 

a  disciple,  and  as  such  had  been  baptized;  but  he  turned  back,  and 
walked  no  more  with  tliem.  Tlie  Brahmins  taunted  him  with  his 
want  of  success,  and  though  the  quiet,  if  not  earnest  attention  of 
many,  and  the  serious  inquiries  of  a  few,  gave  him  much  joy  in  his 
efforts,  he  was  not  seldom  annoyed  by  the  nois}^  clamours  of  the 
multitude,  intent  on  silencing  the  utterance  of  truths  they  could  not 
gainsay,  but  were  determined  to  resist.  The  constant  spectacles  of 
vice  that  met  his  eye  were  such  as  had  a  continual  tendency  to 
harden  his  heart  towards  the  people;  it  required  great  grace,  he 
observes,  to  feel  for  them  as  a  Christian  ought  to  do. 

Yet  he  pursued  his  way  with  a  zeal  that  seemed  to  gain  fresh 
ardour  from  the  obstacles  that  hedged  it  up,  and  was  more  abundant 
in  labours,  as  the  reception  they  met  more  clearly  demonstrated  their 
necessity.  In  the  spring  of  1807  he  was  rewarded  by  the  privilege 
of  adding  two  hopeful  converts  to  his  incipient  church.  In  the 
summer  he  was  reduced  by  illness  to  comparative  inaction,  but  in 
the  autumn  resumed  his  wonted  exertions  with  more  than  his  wonted 
energy.  "If  it  please  the  Lord  to  give  me  strength,"  he  says, 
recounting  a  visit  to  a  market  where  he  preached  for  three  or  four 
hours  together,  "I  promise  my  feet  little  compassion  for  some  mouths 
to  come."  Perhaps  he  wovild  have  done  better  to  have  shown  him- 
self more  compassion  ;  for  a  month  later  his  sickness  returned,  and 
Mr.  Robinson  was  despatched  from  Serampore  to  his  assistance. 
With  returning  strength  he  resumed  his  activit}'',  and  during  the 
remainder  of  his  residence  at  Cutwa, — till  1810, — he  seems  to  have 
performed  an  immense  amount  of  labour.  As  a  specimen,  which 
must  answer  in  place  of  details,  between  January  9,  and  February 
21,  1809,  he  rode  nearly  four  hundred  miles,  preached  every  day 
and  often  several  times  a  day,  and  distributed  about  ten  thousand 
tracts,  one  hundred  copies  of  Luke,  and  fifteen  of  the  New-Testa- 
ment. It  was  his  to  sow  the  seed;  others  entered  into  his  labours, 
and  reaped  the  fruit. 

Besides  these  multiplied  toils  as  a  preacher,  he  superintended  a 
school  instructed  by  a  native  teacher,  in  which  the  pupils  became 
imbued  with  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  as  it  afterwards  appeared, 
not  in  vain.  But  in  one  department  of  labour  he  was  blessed 
with  immediate  and  remarkable  success.  Visiting  Berhampore,  he 
preached  to  the  soldiers  of  the  regiment  stationed  there,  and  as  a 
result  he  was  permitted  in  a  few  months  to  baptize  between  thirty 
and  forty  of  them.     A  few  dishonoured  their  profession,  but  over 


JOHN    CHAMBEELAIN.  95 

thirty  were  steadfast,  and  on  the  removal  of  the  regiment,  organized 
themselves  into  a  church,  setting  apart  as  their  pastor  one  of  their 
own  number,  whose  abilities  seemed  most  to  qualify  him  for  the 
duty  of  watching  over  their  spiritual  interests. 

The  removal  of  the  regiment  which  Mr.  Chamberlain  accompanied 
to  Calcutta,  was  connected  with  an  important  change, — his  removal 
from  Cutwa  to  a  more  distant  field.  While  at  Serampore  it  was 
proposed  to  extend  the  operations  of  the  mission  into  the  upper 
provinces,  and  the  fitness  of  Mr.  Chamberlain  for  pioneer  service 
seemed  to  justify  his  undertaking  it  in  this  instance.  Considering 
his  familiarity  with  the  Bengali  language,  and  his  acquired  skill  in 
using  it  as  the  vehicle  of  instruction,  with  all  the  advantages  of 
experience  in  the  particular  field  he  had  been  called  to  occupy,  the 
propriety  of  this  step  may  be  doubted.  But  his  readiness  to  take 
any  position  that  should  be  judged  to  be  for  the  advantage  of  the 
mission  and  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  to  the  widest  practicable 
extent,  moved  him  to  comply  with  the  wishes  of  his  brethren,  and 
he  was  designated  to  found  a  new  station  at  Agra,  nine  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  distant  from  Calcutta.  He  did  this  willingly  from  a  sense 
of  duty,  but  in  communicating  his  decision  to  his  brethren  he  could 
not  forbear  uttering  his  misgivings,  coupled  with  a  fine  expression 
of  his  desire  to  take  any  part  that  should  be  deemed  most  useful  to 
the  common  cause.  "At  the  same  time  I  cannot  help  looking  on 
the  millions  of  souls  in  Bengal  as  the  grand  object  of  the  mission  at 
present.  Preaching  and  riding  about  are  what  suit  me;  and  hence 
I  conclude  that  it  is  my  work  to  itinerate,  and  to  publish  abroad  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  which  through  the  Divine  favour  you  have  been 
enabled  to  prepare  thus  for  the  nations.  Some  to  sow  and  some  to 
water;  some  for  this  department  and  some  for  another.  It  is  not  to 
be  expected  that  all  should  be  qualified  alike."  With  these  views 
he  repaired  to  the  post  assigned  him,  leaving  to  his  successor,  Mr. 
W.  Carey,  the  second  son  of  Dr.  Carey,  the  pleasing  duty  of  enter- 
ing into  his  labours  at  Cutwa,  and  gathering  the  souls  who  had  first 
heard  the  way  of  life  from  his  lips./  Previous  to  his  removal  he 
had  contracted  a  third  marriage, — with  Miss  Underwood,  a  ladv 
whom  he  had  known  in  England,  from  whom  in  fiict  he  had  received 
some  of  his  first  missionary  impulses,  and  who,  when  she  devoted 
herself  to  the  same  high  calling,  little  thought  she  was  destined  to 
be  the  companion  of  his  later  years.  Her  life  was  spared  to  be  the 
solace  of  his  trials  till  he  put  ofi"  the  body. 


96  JOHN    CHAMBEELAIN. 

At  Agra,  Mr.  Chamberlain's  duties  were  of  an  arduous  and  com- 
plicated character.  It  was  necessary  for  him  to  acquire  the  use  of 
languages  with  which  he  was  imperfectly  acquainted, — the  Hindoos- 
tani,  Persian  and  other  tongues,  spoken  by  the  numerous  tribes  that 
throng  that  populous  empire, — to  commence  a  school  and  translate 
the  Scriptures,  to  preach  in  English,  and  also  to  the  natives,  so  far  as 
his  power  over  their  language  enabled  him  to  do.  In  the  com- 
mencement of  his  ministry  here,  he  was  called  to  mourn  the  death 
of  two  daughters  in  rapid  succession,  leaving  him,  for  the  time, 
almost  inconsolable.  The  year  following,  his  only  remaining  child 
was  taken,  and  his  cup  of  sorrows  seemed  full.  But  the  destruction 
by  fire  of  the  mission  premises  at  Serampore,  about  this  time,  almost 
swallowed  up  his  private  griefs  in  the  greatness  of  public  calamity. 

The  worship  in  the  fort  was  shortly  prohibited.  Some  Roman 
Catholics  had  their  zeal  stimulated  by  Mr.  Chamberlain's  labours, 
and  they  accordingly  called  in  their  priest  to  set  up  religious  ser- 
vices. One  of  the  men  being  sent  for  by  a  superior  officer,  declined 
obedience,  on  the  pretence  that  he  was  engaged  in  prayer.  lu 
answer  to  a  reprimand,  he  said  he  thought  it  hard  that  these  "  Metho- 
dists" could  do  what  they  liked,  while  the  same  privilege  could  not 
be  allowed  to  them.  Without  stopping  to  inquire  whether  the 
"  Methodists  "  had  ever  made  their  religion  an  excuse  for  violating 
military  discipline,  all  public  worship  was  forbidden.  As  this  only 
directed  Mr.  Chamberlain's  labours  more  exclusively  to  the  natives, 
it  was  an  act  not  to  be  specially  regretted  for  his  sake,  however  dis- 
creditable to  the  commandant  and  injurious  to  the  souls  under  his 
authority.  While  it  was  possible  to  prevent  preaching,  the  opera- 
tions of  the  Divine  Spirit  could  not  be  arrested  by  "general  orders." 
Several  of  the  soldiers  were  seriously  attentive  to  the  word  of  God 
and  to  social  devotion.  One  was  baptized,  and  others  were  about  to 
follow  his  example,  when  an  order  was  issued  requiring  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain's immediate  return  to  Bengal.  No  reason  was  assigned  for 
the  act.  He  was  obliged  to  resign  hopes  of  usefulness  that  were 
clearly  dawning,  and  seemed  to  give  promise  of  a  bright  and  cheer- 
ful day.  He  repaired  to  Calcutta,  and  reported  himself  to  the 
authorities,  as  the  order  required,  and  the  only  answer  he  received 
was,  that  he  was  at  liberty. 

Without  waiting  inactively  for  something  new  to  "  turn  up,"  he 
forthwith  set  out,  leaving  his  family  at  Serampore,  to  visit  the  scenes 


JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN.  07 

of  liis  former  labours,  preaching  and  distributing  books  in  the 
villages,  as  he  had  been  wont.  While  upon  this  tour  he  received 
an  invitation  from  Sirdhana,  a  town  near  Delhi,  over  eight  hundred 
miles  distant  from  Calcutta,  which  opened  for  his  occupation  a  field 
of  usefulness  on  which  his  mind  had  formerly  sometimes  turned. 
The  place  was  the  capital  of  a  small  principal itj^,  the  princess  having 
possession  of  it  on  condition  of  maintaining  a  certain  military  force. 
She  was  a  Roman  Catholic,  but  of  very  liberal  and  enlightened  views. 
A  3^oung  man  who  went  there  a  few  3'ears  before  from  Calcutta, 
conducted  so  much  to  her  highness'  satisfaction,  that  he  was 
entrusted  with  the  management  of  her  affairs,  and  married  her 
grand-daughter.  He  applied  to  Mr.  Chamberlain,  a  few  days  before 
he  left  Agra,  to  settle  there  and  educate  his  sou,  whom  he  wished 
brought  up  in  the  Protestant  faith.  Mr.  Chamberlain  replied, 
expressing  his  willingness  to  do  so,  provided  he  could  act  without 
restraint  as  a  missionary.  The  business  was  broken  off  by  his  sud- 
den dismissal  from  Agra,  but  he  now  received  a  letter,  acceding  to 
his  terms,  and  remitting  a  sum  of  money  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
his  journey.  He  immediately  visited  the  place,  preaching  as  he 
went,  and  after  a  long  and  tedious  journey,  arrived  there  in  May, 
1813.  He  was  kindly  received,  a  suitable  residence  was  prepared 
for  him,  and  he  engaged  with  diligence  in  teaching,  preaching,  and 
translation. 

Things  bore  a  promising  aspect.  The  Roman  Catholics,  who 
were  numerous  there,  treated  him,  indeed,  with  aversion,  as  was 
most  natural,  but  he  established  several  schools,  set  up  regular  wor- 
ship, and  had  the  satisfaction  of  gaining  a  few  hearers  and  some 
apparently  earnest  inquirers.  His  chief  pundit,  Purumanunda,  who 
had  been  his  assistant  in  translation  at  Agra,  and  there  received 
some  serious  impressions,  renounced  idolatry,  and  professed  his  faith 
in  Christ.     One  or  two  others  gave  him  strong  hopes. 

Early  in  1811:  he  accompanied  the  princess  to  Delhi,  the  ancient 
capital  of  Hindostan  and  a  chief  seat  of  brahminical  superstition. 
Ilis  pundit  accompanied  him,  and  it  being  his  native  place,  his  faith 
was  subject  to  severe  trials,  but  he  bore  them  firmly,  and  with  his 
family  broke  caste, — a  thing  never  before  witnessed,  it  is  probable, 
in  that  city  since  its  foundation.  Many  came  for  books  and  to  hear 
the  gospel,  mostly  Mussulmans,  so  that  Mr.  Chamberlain's  time  was 
fully  occupied,  while  Purumanunda  went  about  with  equal  zeal, 
declaring  the  truth,  and  reading  the  Scriptures  to  great  numbers. 
7 


08  JOHN^    CHAMBEELAIN. 

Uis  strength  gave  way,  and  he  was  for  some  time  seriously  indisposed, 
yet  as  long  as  be  could  do  so,  he  persevered  in  his  work  On  hid 
return  Mrs.  Chamberlain  was  startled  at  her  husband's  emaciated 
appearance,  but  after  two  days'  respite  he  set  off  to  attend  a  fair  at 
Hurdwar,  to  the  north  of  Delhi,  where  he  preached  to  immense 
congregations  of  Hindoos,  Bengalis  and  Mussulmans.  The  author 
of  "Scenes  in  India"  testifies  to  the  absorbing  interest  with  which 
he  was  heard,  and  states  that  "his  knowledge  of  the  language  was 
that  of  an  accomplished  native." 

Convincing  proof  was  given,  some  time  after  this,  that  his  labours 
at  Hurdwar  were  not  in  vain.  Anund  Museeh  (the  name  assumed 
by  Purumanunda  after  his  conversion)  having  visited  Delhi,  was 
told  that  a  large  number  of  people  had  excited  considerable  curiosity 
by  the  circumstance  of  their  assembling  in  the  neighbourhood  for 
conversation  and  the  reading  of  some  books  in  their  possession.  He 
went  to  the  place,  and  found  about  five  hundred  persons  seated  under 
the  shade  of  trees.  To  the  inquiry  who  they  were  and  for  what 
purpose  they  came  together,  they  said,  "We  are  poor  and  lowly, 
and  we  read  and  love  this  book."  "What  is  that  book?"  "The 
book  of  God!" — It  was  a  gospel  in  Hindoostani.  "Where  did  you 
obtain  it?"  "An  angel  from  heaven  gave  it  us  at  Hurdwar  fair." 
"An  angel?"  "Yes,  to  us  he  was  God's  angel,  but  he  was  a  learned 
man,  a  learned  pundit.  The  written  copies  we  write  ourselves, 
having  no  other  means  of  obtaining  more  of  this  blessed  word." 
What  the  ultimate  result  was,  is  not  known,  and  may  not  be  known 
till  the  coming  of  the  day  when  all  the  mysteries  of  earth  shall  be 
revealed,  but  it  is  permitted  us  to  hope  that  some  souls  did  heartily 
embrace  the  way  of  eternal  life,  the  news  of  which  they  cherished 
with  such  warm  aflFection. 

Unhappily,  complaints  were  made  by  some  persons  of  his  visiting 
Hurdwar,  and  in  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country  the  governor- 
general.  Lord  Hastings,  whose  character  for  liberality  guarantied  the 
uprightness  of  his  motives,  whatever  may  be  thought  of  the  absolute 
propriety  of  so  decided  an  act,  felt  compelled  to  require  Mr.  Cham- 
berlain's dismissal  from  Sirdhana.  Thus  a  second  time  was  he  driven 
from  a  field  where  he  had  the  highest  hopes  of  success.  He  bowed 
submissively  to  the  ordination  of  Providence,  and  returned  to  Seram- 
pore,  preaching  daily  on  his  route  with  his  customary  diligence. 
Application  was  made  to  the  government  for  leave  to  return  to  Ilin- 


JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN.  99 

dostan,  wliicli  was  refused,  but  he  was  authorized  to  settle  at  any  point 
in  the  lower  provinces  he  should  select.  He  fixed  upon  Monghyr,  a 
populous  town  in  Bengal,  nearly  three  hundred  miles  from  Calcutta, 
which  he  had  before  visited  and  remarked  as  a  favourable  situation. 

To  this  point  he  proceeded  in  the  autumn  of  1816,  in  his  usual 
manner,  pausing  daily  to  testify  to  all  who  would  hear,  the  gospel 
of  the  grace  of  God.  He  contracted  a  severe  cold,  by  which  he  was 
enfeebled,  and  spent  three  weeks  at  Digah,  where  two  brethren  had 
been  recently  settled,  and  as  yet  had  not  acquired  the  language  so 
fully  as  to  make  them  ready  preachers,  but  with  the  aid  of  two 
native  converts,  one  of  whom  had  been  baptized  by  Mr.  Chamberlain 
several  years  before,  they  succeeded  in  communicating  with  the 
people.  Here  he  had  the  happiness  of  baptizing  four  natives,  and 
of  administering  the  communion  to  twenty-three  persons,  nine  of 
them  gathered  from  among  the  heathen,  "the  Avave-sheaf,"  as  he 
says,  "  of  the  harvest  in  Hindostan." 

At  Monghyr  he  was  still  troubled  with  indisposition,  but  was 
soon  enabled  to  enter  on  his  work, — translating,  and  preaching  to 
both  natives  and  Europeans,  with  the  evidence  that  the  word  was 
heard  with  profit.  After  pursuing  this  course  for  three  months,  he 
made  a  missionary  tour,  a  species  of  employment  to  Avhich  he  was 
always  partial,  to  Berhampore.  Eeturning,  he  resumed  his  duties 
at  the  station,  where  he  remained  till  the  close  of  the  year  1816.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  next  year  he  made  another  tour,  accompanying 
an  officer  of  the  army  who  had  recently  commenced  a  religious  life, 
to  his  station  up  the  river.  It  was  the  last  important  excursion  of 
the  kind  he  was  permitted  to  make,  but  differed  nothing  from  oth- 
ers. He  always  did  what  he  found  to  do  with  his  might,  and  had 
he  seen  death  frowning  in  his  path  he  could  have  done  no  more 
than  this.  In  his  return  he  stopped  at  Digah,  where  he  found  the 
good  work  prospering,  and  a  large  number  of  candidates  for  baptism, 
many  of  them  soldiers  stationed  there. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  year  he  confined  himself  mostly  to 
his  station,  visiting  some  convenient  places  in  the  neighbourhood  as 
he  f:>und  opportunity.  On  the  27th  of  December  he  baptized  the 
first  native  convert  in  that  place,  a  brahmin,  whose  profession  of 
Christianity  profoundly  agitated  the  community.  On  the  last  day 
of  the  year  he  was  assailed  with  symptoms  of  disease  in  the  lungs,- 
"The  work  in  my  hands,"  he  wrote  on  that  day,  "requires  years  to 
accomplish  it;  but  whether  another  year  will  be  granted  to  me  for 


TOO  JOHN    CHAMBEELAIK. 

what  I  am  to  do,  I  know  not.  0,  tliat  Avlien  my  Lord  and  Master 
Cometh,  I  may  be  found  in  his  work.  Now  pardon  all  my  sins,  0 
thou  forgiving  God,  and  crown  with  blessings  this  departing  year." 
From  this  time  he  declined  rapidly,  and  was  able  to  do  but  little. 
In  the  following  October  he  was  advised  to  try  a  change  of  air,  and 
for  this  purpose  proceeded  to  Calcutta,  and  thence  to  the  Sand 
Heads,  but  without  material  benefit.  His  strength  was  for  a  brief 
interval  recruited,  so  that  he  returned  to  Monghyr,  but  all  hopes  of 
continued  usefulness  began  again  to  fade.  He  looked  sadly  at  the 
villages  he  passed,  where  he  longed  to  preach,  but  could  not.  In 
February,  1819,  he  revived,  and  seemed  like  one  from  the  dead. 
Cautiously  he  resumed  his  ordinary  employments,  but  his  ardour 
was  not  sufficiently  tempered  by  prudence.  He  was  anxious  to  finish 
the  translations  in  which  he  was  engaged,  and  his  efforts  dissipated 
his  strength.  He  bore  up  with  frequent  interruptions  till  September, 
when  his  disorder  prostrated  him  for  a  month.  Another  voyage  to 
the  Sand  Heads  was  serviceable  to  him,  but,  as  before,  over-exertion 
speedily  destroyed  its  good  effects.  He  could  not  be  quiet.  He 
returned  home  at  the  beginning  of  1820,  and  laboured  through  the 
spring  at  his  translations,  besides  preaching  four  times  a- week  to  the 
Europeans  and  seven  or  eight  times  to  the  natives!  In  the  course 
of  the  summer  he  was  compelled  to  intermit  some  of  his  labours, 
but  during  a  considerable  part  of  the  time  persisted  in  preaching  as 
many  as  six  discourses  a  week,  besides  prosecuting  his  tasks  with 
the  New-Testament  in  the  Hindi  language,  the  translation  of  which 
he  completed  in  September.  The  year  1821  was  equally  laborious, 
though  he  was  but  the  shadow  of  himself,  and  it  was  manifest  that 
he  was  rapidly  wearing  out  his  life.  On  the  first  Sabbath  in  Sep- 
tember died  his  friend  Brindabun,  whom  he  had  baptized  in  1809. 
He  spoke  at  his  grave  in  Hindoostani,  and  in  the  evening  preached 
his  funeral  sermon  in  English,  and  administered  the  Lord's  Supper. 
The  next  Sabbath  he  made  another  and  last  attempt  to  preach.  He 
now  bade  farewell  to  his  flock,  then  consisting  of  twelve  native 
members,  and  went  to  Calcutta.  A  voyage  to  England  was  recom- 
mended, a  measure  which  was  unquestionably  two  full  years  too  late, 
but  further  labour  was  out  of  the  question,  and  he  prepared  for  his 
departure.  For  some  reasons,  not  founded,  we  may  be  sure,  in  any 
want  of  affection,  he  chose,  with  very  questionable  self-denial,  to 
leave  his  wife  behind  to  await  his  desired,  but  scarcely  expected, 
return  to  his  loved  emplo3^     The  vessel  sailed  the  second  week  in 


JOHN    CHAMBERLAIN.  101 

November.  He  was  confined  to  the  cabin,  and  languished  for  three 
weeks,  where  he  was  found  on  the  morning  of  December  6th,  lifeless 
upon  his  bed.  His  remains  were  committed  to  the  deep  near  the 
island  of  Cejlon,  in  lat.  9°  30'  N.,  Ion.  85°  E.  No  human  ear  was 
permitted  to  listen  to  his  dying  accents,  or  to  witness  his  tranquil 
departure  into  rest ;  but  He  whom  he  served  in  life,  watched  his  pil- 
low, and  received  him  alone. 

No  description  is  needed  to  portray  Mr.  Chamberlain's  character 
as  a  missionary.  It  is  recorded  in  the  life  we  have  reviewed ;  his 
works  constitute  an  unequivocal  and  undying  memorial  of  the  man, 
ardent  in  the  pursuit  of  his  high  calling,  singularly  skilful  in  the 
use  of  means,  eminently  successful  in  reaching  those  for  whose  sal- 
vation he  laboured.  The  want  of  immediate  and  decisive  results  was 
no  disappointment  to  him ;  he  looked  for  no  such  results.  His  work 
was  preparative.  He  continually  spoke  of  himself  as  a  pioneer,  toil- 
ing in  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  enterprise,  occupying  new  stations, 
bringing  strange  things  to  the  ears  of  myriads.  He  knew  that  his 
words  would  not  fall  to  the  ground,  or  be  lost  "in  the  vast  and 
wandering  air,"  but  hoped  that  when  he  should  have  departed,  the 
good  seed  would  spring  up  and  bear  fruit  to  the  honour  of  his  Lord. 
In  this  faith  he  lived  and  died,  and  time  has  justified  his  confidence. 
In  his  private  relations  he  was  earnestly  beloved  by  all  who  knew 
him.  His  warm  temperament  exposed  him  to  the  danger  of  giving 
offence  when  engaged  in  controversy,  and  he  did  not  always  guard 
himself  sufficiently  against  it,  but  familiar  acquaintance  never  failed 
to  vindicate  the  essential  kindliness  of  his  nature.  In  his  intercourse 
with  the  natives  he  manifested  a  gentleness  and  moderation  that  con- 
ciliated them  to  his  message,  and  was  more  effectual  than  the  most 
persuasive  speech  to  show  the  worth  of  the  religion  he  preached. 
He  knew  himself,  and  was  quick  to  discern  the  characters  of  others. 
This  knowledge  of  human  nature  gave  him  great  power  in  his  work. 
His  humility  was  remarkable,  and  he  always  cherished  a  feeling  of 
gratitude  for  the  least  blessing  he  received,  whether  human  or 
divine.  His  talents  were  not  splendid,  but  they  were  exerted  with 
conscientious  diligence.  His  temper  was  ardent,  but  burned  "with 
an  unconsuming  fire  of  light"  habitually  kindled  from  above. 
Others  may  have  pursued  more  dazzling,  but  few  more  useful, 
blameless,  or  happy  lives,  than  that  of  John  Chamberlain. 


HENRY    MARTIN. 


Henry  Martyn  was  born  at  Truro,  in  the  county  of  Cornwall, 
England,  February  18,  1781.  His  father  was  originally  a  common 
labourer  in  the  mines  at  Gwenap,  but  qualified  himself  by  study  in 
the  intervals  of  labour  for  the  situation  of  chief  clerk  in  a  counting- 
house,  affording  him  an  easy  income.  Henry  was  placed,  in  the 
eighth  year  of  his  age,  at  the  grammar  school  in  Truro.  He  was 
regarded  as  a  boy  of  uncommon  promise,  and  his  proficiency  in  class- 
ical studies  justified  the  expectations  that  had  been  formed  of  him. 
Indeed,  his  ease  of  acquisition  was  such  that  he  was  exposed  to  the 
temptation  of  relying  too  much  on  the  quickness  of  his  powers, 
and  to  fail  in  due  application  to  study.  He  appeared  like  an  idler, 
but  performed  his  tasks  with  great  readiness,  as  if  he  had  learned 
them  by  intuition. 

Having  inherited  a  weak  constitution,  and  by  no  means  an  adept  in 
the  ordinary  pastimes  of  boys,  Henry  suffered  from  the  overbearing 
tyranny  of  some  of  his  stouter  associates,  who  had  little  sympathy 
with  his  shy  and  retiring  disposition.  But  his  gentle  and  inoffensive 
demeanour  made  him  friends,  and  one  older  than  himself  became 
his  protector.  In  this  school  he  continued  till  his  fourteenth  year, 
when  he  was  sent  to  Oxford  as  a  candidate  for  a  vacant  scholarship 
in  Corpus  Christi  College.  He  sustained  himself  so  well  that  in  the 
opinion  of  some  of  the  examiners  he  ought  to  have  been  elected, 
but  was  unsuccessful,  and  returned  to  his  school,  where  he  remained 
two  3^ears  longer.  His  mind  was  directed,  in  the  spring  of  1797,  to 
the  Universit}'  of  Cambridge.  The  schoolmate  whose  counsel  and 
protection  had  stood  him  in  such  stead,  had  entered  there  upon  a 
highly  successful  course,  and  he  naturally  felt  a  desire  to  continue 
a  relation  that  was  mutually  satisfactory.  He  was  accordingly 
entered  at  St.  John's  College,  and  commenced  his  residence  there  in 
October.  The  beginning  of  bis  academic  career  was  not  promising. 
His  time  was  wasted  on  favourite  diversions  and  books,  "attributing," 
he  says,  "to  a  want  of  taste  for  mathematics,  what  ought  to  have 
been  ascribed  to  idleness."     The  standino;  he  obtained  in  his  first 


104  HENEY    MARTYN. 

examinatiou  showed  that  he  had  not  Avholly  wasted  his  powers,  and 
in  the  following  summer  he  reached  the  second  place  in  the  first  class, 
to  which  distinction  the  judicious  counsel  of  his  friend,  restraining 
his  youthful  waywardness,  probably  contributed  not  a  little. 

During  this  and  the  succeeding  year,  Mr  Martyn's  talents  imfolded 
themselves  with  increasing  distinctness  as  of  no  ordinary  kind.  He 
was  unwearied  in  application,  and  generally  unexceptionable  in  his 
conduct.  An  irritabilit}^  of  temper  was  indeed  occasionally  manifest, 
and  once  proved  nearly  fatal  to  a  friend,  at  whom,  in  a  paroxysm 
of  anger,  he  hurled  a  knife,  which  missed  its  object,  and  was  fixed 
trembling  in  the  wall.  But  his  character  in  most  respects  was  esti- 
mable, and  such  as  won  general  regard.  His  religious  views,  how- 
ever, were  indefinite,  and  his  ruling  motives  worldly.  The  duty 
of  studying  not  chiefly  for  its  own,  or  his  own  sake,  but  for  the 
Divine  glory,  though  he  acknowledged  its  reasonableness,  seemed 
strange  when  suggested  in  conversation.  On  visiting  his  friends  in 
the  summer  vacation  of  1799,  his  religious  obligations  were  affection- 
ately urged  upon  him  by  a  pious  sister,  with  no  good  eftect  at  the 
time ;  but  the  very  resistance  which  he  made  to  motives  that  his  judg- 
ment could  not  but  approve,  awakened  a  more  vivid  consciousness 
of  his  moral  deficiencies.  He  afterwards  recurred,  with  expressions 
of  deep  self-abasement,  to  the  circumstances  of  this  visit. 

At  the  Christmas  examination  of  this  year,  he  was  first,  an  honour 
flattering  to  himself,  and  the  more  exquisitely  gratifying  from  the 
delight  it  gave  his  father.  But  his  joy  was  speedily  turned  into 
sorrow,  by  the  intelligence  of  his  father's  death,  an  event  for  which 
he  was  wholly  unprepared,  and  which  laid  a  heavy  burden  of  grief 
on  his  susceptible  spirit.  In  this  hour  of  mourning,  his  thoughts 
naturally  turned  towards  that  eternal  state  into  which  his  parent  had 
entered,  and  to  which  his  own  spirit  was  bound.  "Yet,"  he  says, 
"I  still  read  the  Bible  unenlightened,  and  said  a  prayer  or  two, 
rather  through  terror  of  a  superior  power  than  from  any  other  cause. 
Soon,  however,  I  began  to  attend  more  diligently  to  the  words  of 
our  Saviour  in  the  New-Testament,  and  to  devour  them  with  delight; 
when  the  offers  of  mercy  and  forgiveness  were  made  so  freely,  I 
supplicated  to  be  made  partaker  of  the  covenant  of  grace,  with 
eagerness  and  hope."  From  this  time,  though  he  afterwards  looked 
back,  from  the  elevation  of  a  piety  such  as  is  not  often  attained, 
with  some  measure  of  distrust  respecting  the  state  of  his  affections 
in  the  dawn  of  his  religious  life,  he  seems  to  have  gone  forward, 


HENRY     MARTYN.  105 

with  an  increasing  steadiness  of  purpose  and  vigour  of  pursuit,  in 
the  way  of  Christian  improvement. 

The  examination  for  degrees  in  the  University  now  approaching, 
his  mind  was  directed  with  ardour  to  his  mathematical  studies. 
Much  was  expected  of  him ;  the  result  of  the  examination  might 
have  a  momentous  bearing  on  his  success  in  life;  and  he  felt  that  the 
circumstances  required  watchfulness,  lest  his  heart  should  be  too 
much  set  upon  the  distinctions  of  the  hoar.  As  he  entered  the  Sen- 
ate-house among  the  crowd  of  able  competitors,  he  might  have  been 
jjardoned  for  giving  way  to  the  ambitious  promptings  that  are  so 
natural  to  a  strong  and  aspiring  intellect  in  the  flush  of  youth.  But 
at  this  moment  there  rushed  upon  his  recollection  the  severe  and 
authoritative  warning,  "Seekest  thou  great  things  for  thyself?  Seek 
THEM  NOT,  SAITH  THE  LoRD."  His  Spirit  was  tranquillized,  and  the 
calmness  with  which  he  set  about  his  task  undoubtedly  gave  him 
additional  power.  The  highest  academical  honour  was  conferred 
upon  him  in  January,  1801,  at  which  time  he  had  not  completed  the 
twentieth  year  of  his  age.  Yet  he  was  not  dazzled  by  the  splendours 
of  such  a  prize.  It  was  inadequate  to  satisfy  a  mind  that  had  known 
"the  powers  of  the  world  to  come."  He  says,  "I  had  obtained  my 
highest  wishes,  but  was  surprised  to  find  that  I  had  grasped  a  shadow." 

Eeturning  to  his  home  to  receive  the  congratulations  of  his  friends, 
his  sister  alone  was  disappointed,  in  finding  his  religious  progress 
less  marked  than  she  had  fondly,  perhaps  too  eagerly,  anticipated. 
He  spent  the  summer  vacation  in  Cambridge,  where  he  was  much 
in  solitude,  and  improved  it  to  the  happy  increase  of  his  spiritual 
resources.  The  acquaintance  he  was  permitted  to  form  with  Rev. 
Charles  Simeon,  whose  influence  on  the  university,  and  through 
that  upon  the  church  and  the  whole  body  of  society,  was  for  many 
years  the  instrument  of  widely  diffusing  the  spirit  and  power  of 
evangelical  religion,  proved  a  valuable  auxiliary  to  his  better  im- 
pulses. By  him  he  was  introduced  to  a  number  of  young  men,  with 
whom  he  formed  a  lasting  friendship,  dignified  by  all  the  graces  of 
the  Christian  character.  From  him  also  he  derived  higher  views 
of  the  importance  and  intrinsic  honour  of  the  Christian  ministry  to 
v.'hich  he  soon  devoted  himself,  having  hitherto  looked  forward  to 
tlie  legal  profession. 

He  was  now  for  a  time  employed  in  instructing  some  pupils,  till 
])is  election  as  a  fellow  of  St.  John's  College,  in  March,  1802.  He 
soon  after  won  the  first  prize  for  Latin  prose  composition,  and  with 


106  HENRY     MAKTYN. 

these  added  honours  departed  on  a  visit  to  his  relatives  in  Cornwall. 
The  daj^s  that  he  spent  in  the  society  of  his  friends  were  among  the 
most  joyous  of  his  life.  In  his  hours  of  retirement  he  indulged  in 
sacred  meditations,  that  fed  the  flame  of  devotion,  while  the  absence 
of  distracting  objects  enabled  him  to  fix  his  attention  more  exclu- 
sively upon  the  study  of  the  Scriptures. 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year  he  returned  to  his  engagements  in  the 
university.  The  months  that  followed  formed  an  important  era  in 
his  life.  From  some  remarks  of  Mr.  Simeon  on  the  labours  of  Dr. 
Carey  and  his  associates  in  Bengal,  and  the  reading  of  David  Brain- 
ard's  apostolic  labours  among  the  Indians,  his  thoughts  were  turned 
to  the  missionary  enterprise.  He  had  already  fixed  his  mind  on  the 
duties  of  the  ministry;  he  now  conceived  the  design  of  seeking  his 
field  of  labour  in  the  dark  places  of  the  earth.  It  was  no  light 
matter  for  one  endowed  with  such  rare  powers  wholly  to  resign  the 
thought  of  exerting  them  in  a  society  affording  such  scope  for  their 
exercise  as  his  native  England.  It  cost  no  small  struggle  to  silence 
the  pleadings  of  a  nature  possessed  of  exquisite  susceptibilities  for 
the  enjoyments  of  Christian  society,  of  domestic  peace  and  the 
endearments  of  kindred  and  closely-knit  friendships.  But  he  felt 
the  promptings  of  compassion  for  those  perishing  for  lack  of  knowl- 
edge, and  of  duty  to  Him  Avhose  commission  he  was  about  to  bear, 
the  terms  of  which  extended  to  "all  the  world;"  and  after  much 
devout  consideration  he  devoted  himself  to  the  work,  and  oflered 
himself  for  the  patronage  of  the  Church  Missionarj''  Society. 

His  journal,  from  this  time  to  that  of  his  ordination,  shov/s  that 
he  was  far  from  insensible  to  the  difliculties  and  trials  that  he  must 
encounter  in  his  labours.  At  one  time  he  complains  that  "nothing 
seems  to  lie  before  me  but  one  vast  uninteresting  wilderness,  and 
heaven  appearing  but  dimly  at  the  end."  At  another,  he  "had  some 
disheartening  thoughts  at  the  prospect  of  being  stripped  of  every 
earthly  comfort."  Again  he  says,  "Had  distressing  thoughts  about 
the  little  prospect  of  happiness  in  my  future  life."  Besides  these 
special  causes  of  sorrow,  the  researches  he  made  into  the  dejsths  of 
his  own  nature  gave  him  abasing  views  of  his  own  character,  which 
are  recorded  in  terms  of  great  energy.  The  same  record  of  his  inte- 
rior life  discloses  the  sources  of  his  consolation,  in  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures,  in  grateful  meditation  on  the  excellences  of  the  gospel 
and  the  sublime  mysteries  of  faith,  and  in  much  prayer. 

The  ordination  of  Mr.  Martyn  occurred  at  Ely,  October  22d,  1803, 


HENRY    MARTYISr.  107 

and  lie  commenced  liis  clerical  duties  as  curate  to  Mr.  Simeon  in  tlie 
church  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Cambridge,  undertaking  at  the  same 
time  the  care  of  the  small  parish  of  Lolworth  near  the  university. 
Ilis  preaching  was  characterized  by  great  earnestness  and  solemnity. 
With  that  careful  watchfulness  that  distinguished  him,  he  has  entered 
in  his  journal  the  fact  that  in  company  with  a  friend  he  was  asked 
if  he  were  not  to  be  Mr.  Simeon's  curate,  a  question  which  he  was 
for  the  moment  reluctant  to  answer.  It  probably  was  not,  it  may 
be  remarked,  his  being  a  curate  that  mortified  his  pride,  but  that  he 
was  to  be  Mr.  Simeon's  curate.  That  excellent  person,  now  revered 
in  memory  as  a  lasting  benefactor  of  the  university  and  of  the 
church,  even  by  those  who  would  be  far  from  assenting  to  his  views 
of  religion,  was  then  the  object  of  reproach  and  derision  as  a  "mys- 
tical, methodistical,  fanatical"  preacher.  But  such  feelings  as  these, 
in  the  breast  of  one  like  Henry  Martyn,  must  have  been  of  a  tran- 
sient character.  They  were  detected  and  sternly  repressed  on  his 
first  consciousness  of  their  existence. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  year  he  was  appointed  to  act  as  examiner 
of  the  university,  an  office  he  filled  with  singular  credit  to  himself, 
but  with  great  anxiety,  lest  the  absorption  of  his  thoughts  in  it 
should  work  to  the  prejudice  of  his  more  sacred  duties.  At  this 
time  his  prospects  of  missionary  service  were  overcast  by  the  sud- 
den loss  of  his  little  property,  in  which  his  younger  sister  was  also 
involved.  To  leave  England  under  these  circumstances  seemed  a 
matter  of  doubtful  propriety.  His  friends  had  interested  them- 
selves in  soliciting  for  him  a  chaplaincy  in  the  service  of  the  East 
India  Company,  an  offer  which  would  enable  him  with  less  hard- 
ship to  undertake  missionary  labour  in  their  territories.  In  this 
emergency  it  was  of  more  consequence  than  ever  that  he  should 
obtain  the  desired  post,  and  the  position  of  his  sister  justified  some 
reference  to  his  pecuniary  interests;  but  the  application  was  unsuc- 
cessful, and  he  was  left  in  a  state  of  painful  uncertainty  as  to  his 
future  course. 

"While  thus  unable  to  discern  the  way  in  which  he  should  walk, 
he  devoted  himself  with  increased  assiduity  to  his  ministerial  work. 
He  preached  frequently,  visited  the  sick  and  dying,  the  poor  and 
the  outcast,  was  diligent  in  the  work  of  private  instruction  and 
admonition,  and  sought  in  every  way  to  fulfil  the  duties  imposed 
by  his  ordination  vows.  Where  he  had  reason  to  know  that  his 
ministrations  were  useful,  he  received  the  assurance  with  profound 


108  HENRY    MARTYN. 

gratitude  and  humility.  "When  applause  was  excited,  he  shrank 
from  it  with  dread,  lest  it  should  corrupt  his  Christian  simplicity  by 
prompting  a  vain  elation  of  spirit.  He  sought  to  acquire  habits  of 
self-denial,  and  was  indefatigable  in  the  use  of  means  to  promote 
his  progress  in  knowledge  and  in  piety.  To  this  end  he  guarded 
against  every  thing  that  tended  to  distract  the  pursuit.  If  a  book 
excited  in  him  special  admiration,  he  would  lay  it  aside  for  a  time 
to  study  the  Scriptures,  jealous  lest  any  human  production  should 
even  temporarily  usurp  that  place  which  rightfully  belonged  to  the 
inspired  Word.  In  his  solitary  walks  he  took  care  to  direct  his 
mind  to  the  contemplation  of  sacred  things,  for  Avhich  purpose  he 
committed  to  memory  passages  of  the  Bible  to  be  always  ready  to 
his  thoughts.  By  these  and  other  appropriate  methods  he  studied 
to  be  blameless  in  the  minutest  particulars  of  life,  and  thoroughly 
famished  for  the  duties  he  assumed.  He  did  not  escape  calumny, 
misrepresentation  and  ridicule,  but  he  bore  them  meekly,  uncom 
plainingly,  with  a  forgiving  temper,  and  a  reliance  on  Him  who 
warned  his  disciples  that  they  must  meet  the  hostility  of  a  world 
that  rejected  and  crucified  their  Master. 

Early  in  this  year  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Henry  Kirke 
White,  whose  genius  he  appreciated,  and  whose  spirit  was  congenial 
with  his  own.  He  did  much  to  encourage  him  in  his  entrance  upon 
that  memorable  career,  whose  brilliant  morning  was  so  soon  to  be 
shrouded  in  untimely  darkness.  He  was  also  in  the  summer  again 
engaged  to  act  as  examiner  in  the  university.  At  the  conclusion  of 
the  examination,  being  assured  of  an  appointment  as  chaplain  to  the 
East  India  Company,  he  visited  his  friends  in  Cornwall  preparatory 
to  leaving  England.  Anxious  to  make  fall  proof  of  his  ministry, 
he  hoped  for  the  privilege  of  preaching  there,  but  the  prejudice 
against  his  evangelical  principles  was  such  that  his  services  were 
chiefly  limited  to  two  churches,  where  he  preached  to  large  and 
attentive  audiences.  "The  common  people  heard  him  gladly." 
After  a  season  of  much  enjoyment,  tempered  by  the  sadness  which 
could  not  fail  to  gather  round  one  anticipating  a  speedy  and  final 
separation,  he  bade  farewell  to  his  sisters  and  to  one  dearer  than  a 
sister,  with  inexpressible  sorrow  that  subdued  his  spirit,  and  only 
yielded  to  a  paramount  sense  of  duty.*     He  made  his  way  to  Lon- 

*  The  question  whether  he  should  go  out  to  India  married  or  single,  agitated  his 
mind  for  some  time,  but  Mr.  Cecil  gave  him  such  reasons  for  the  latter  as  convinced 
him  that  duty  demanded  the  sacrifice  of  his  affections. 


HENRY    MARTYN.  '  109 

don,  whence  lie  returned  in  September  to  Cambridge.  Here  lie 
resumed  his  pastoral  labours,  and  pursued  them  with  increased  dili- 
gence and  pleasure,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  acted  for  a  third 
time  as  university  examiner.  He  was  admitted  to  priest's  orders  in 
March,  1805,  having  completed  his  twenty-fourth  year,  and  received 
the  degree  of  Bachelor  in  Divinity.  No  cause  now  existing  to 
detain  him  longer  in  England,  he  made  immediate  preparation 
to  depart. 

At  London  his  heart  was  lightened  by  the  happy  marriage  of  his 
youngest  sister,  and  by  the  information  that  two  of  his  friends  had 
resolved  on  devoting  themselves  to  the  same  arduous  but  happy 
work  on  which  he  was  entering.  During  the  two  months  of  his 
sojourn  there  he  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  Hindoostani 
language,  besides  frequently  preaching.  On  the  8th  of  July  he 
went  to  Portsmouth,  the  place  of  his  embarkation.  The  intensity 
of  his  feelings,  which  he  struggled  to  repress  and  conceal,  was  such 
that  he  fainted  on  the  wa}^,  and  was  compelled  to  stop  over  night. 
The  presence  of  some  of  his  brethren,  and  particularly  of  Mr.  Simeon, 
who  came  to  Portsmouth  to  bid  him  farewell,  somewhat  soothed  him. 

The  vessel  in  which  he  sailed,  with  a  large  fleet,  put  to  sea  Jul}^ 
17,  1805,  and  two  days  after  unexpectedly  anchored  at  Falmouth. 
By  this  unlooked-for  event,  Mr.  Martyn  was  compelled  to  renew  the 
anguish  under  which  his  physical  energies  had  once  sunk,  as  he  was 
brought  to  the  near  vicinity  of  his  early  home  and  of  those  friends 
from  whom  his  sensitive  nature  so  hardly  permitted  him  to  part. 
A  short  interval  was  given  him  to  enjoy  their  society,  to  be  followed 
by  a  bitter  season  of  regret.  Returning  to  the  vessel  he  once  more 
put  to  sea.  Compelled,  unhappily,  to  sail  in  view  of  the  coast  for 
nearly  two  daj's,  his  torture  was  prolonged,  and  when  he  was  final]}'" 
borne  away  from  the  shores  of  England,  he  complained  that  "all  his 
peace  had  disappeared."  On  the  14th,  the  fleet  came  to  anchor  in 
the  cove  of  Cork,  and  here  he  gained  at  last  the  calmness  of  spirit 
and  entire  reconciliation  to  the  Divine  will,  that  were  sufficient  to 
sustain  him  in  his  utmost  need. 

At  Cork  Mr.  Martyn  preached  regularly,  and  was  indefixtigable 
in  his  private  ministrations,  but  found  much  to  discourage  him. 
The  officers  were  indifferent  or  hostile  to  his  principles,  the  passen- 
gers inattentive,  and  it  was  not  strange  if  the  common  sailors  and 
soldiers,  though  better  disposed,  partook  of  the  same  feeling.  When 
the  fleet  again  put  to  sea  on  the  31st  of  August,  and  through  the 


110  HENRY    MAETYN". 

whole  course  of  the  voyage  to  Madeira,  this  opposition  was  increased. 
The  officers  complained  of  the  severity  of  his  preaching.  If  he 
would  utter  "smooth  things,"  they  would  hear,  but  he  was  signifi- 
cantly told  that  he  must  not  "preach  about  hell"  any  more.  With 
more  firmness  than  discretion,  he  answered  this  warning  by  taking 
for  his  text,  the  next  Sabbath,  Psalm  ix.  17. — "The  wicked  shall  be 
turned  into  hell,  with  all  the  nations  that  forget  God."  From  Madeira 
they  proceeded  to  San  Salvador,  Brazil,  where  several  days  were 
spent,  after  having  narrowly  escaped  destruction  by  shipwreck. 
Their  course  was  then  to  Cape  Town,  which  was  attacked  and  taken. 
Mr.  Mart}^  was  greatly  concerned  at  the  levity  with  which  the  sol- 
diers went  forward  to  battle,  and  shocked  at  the  horrors  of  war. 
When  the  British  colours  were  hoisted  on  the  fort  he  was  saddened 
at  the  spirit  of  conquest  in  which  the  expedition  originated.  "I 
had  rather,"  he  says,  "be  trampled  upon,  than  be  the  trampler.  I 
could  find  it  more  agreeable  to  my  own  feelings  to  go  and  weep 
with  the  relatives  of  the  men  whom  the  English  have  killed,  than 
to  rejoice  at  the  laurels  they  have  won." 

The  voyage  from  the  Cape  was  attended  with  much  sickness  on 
board  the  fleet,  which  proved  fatal  to  many,  and  kept  Mr,  Martyn 
busy  in  attendance  upon  the  suffering.  The  opposition  he  met  with 
from  the  officers  and  passengers  was  more  violent  than  ever,  but 
with  the  fervour  of  love  he  pursued  his  thankless  labours  till  the 
21st  of  April,  1806,  when  he  was  gladdened  by  the  sight  of  India, 
nine  months  from  the  time  of  leaving  Portsmouth.  After  being 
detained  a  short  time  at  Madras,  he  reached  Calcutta,  not  without 
great  peril  from  a  hurricane,  which  dismantled  the  vessel  in  which 
he  sailed,  and  kept  them  for  two  hours  in  the  momentary  expectation 
of  immediate  death. 

While  at  Madras  Mr.  Martyn  describes  himself  as  filled  with  des- 
pondency. The  multitudes  of  idolaters,  and  the  apparent  impossi- 
bility of  their  conversion,  pressed  on  his  mind  and  tried  his  faith, 
"but  God  wonderfully  assisted  me,"  he  says,  "to  trust  him  for  the 
wisdom  of  his  dispensations. — How  easy  for  God  to  do  it;  and  it 
shall  be  done  in  due  time ;  and  even  if  I  should  never  see  a  native 
converted,  God  may  design  by  my  patience  and  continuance  in  the 
work  to  encourage  future  missionaries." 

On  his  arrival  at  Calcutta,  Mr.  Martyn  was  welcomed  by  Hev. 
David  Brown  to  his  residence  at  Aldeen  near  the  city,  llere  he 
was  attacked  with  fever,  which  occasioned  his  friends  great  concern- 


HENKY    MARTYN.  Ill 

for  a  time.  On  liis  recovery  lie  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
Hindoostani,  and  continued  in  this  employment  and  in  the  pleasures 
of  Christian  society  until  the  beginning  of  October.  During  this 
time  his  Christian  friends  in  Calcutta  earnestly  desired  that  he  would 
make  that  the  scene  of  his  labours.  But  he  was  set  on  other  objects, 
and  "to  be  prevented  from  going  to  the  heathen",  he  said,  "would 
almost  have  broken  his  heart." 

The  reception  he  met  with  on  first  preaching  in  that  city  was  not 
calculated  to  offer  his  mind  the  sti'ongest  inducements  to  remain. 
He  was  openly  denounced  from  more  than  one  pulpit;  his  doctrines 
were  first  denied,  then  misrepresented,  then  condemned  as  fanatical 
and  absurd.  lie  received  these  assaults,  improper  as  coming  from 
his  brother  chaplains,  as  well  as  unchristian,  with  a  meek  and  for- 
giving temper.  Another  chaplain  came  to  his  assistance,  by  reading 
instead  of  a  sermon  one  of  the  Homilies,  in  which  the  doctrines  thus 
maligned  are  set  forth  by  authority  of  the  Church  of  England. 
About  this  time  the  order  issued  by  the  government  against  the 
Baptist  mission  at  Serampore,  forbidding  them  to  preach  or  circulate 
tracts  within  the  British  jurisdiction,  grieved  him  exceedingly,  and 
he  expressed  himself  vehemently  against  it. 

Having  received  an  appointment  to  Dinapore,  he  prepared  to 
part  from  the  friends  with  whom  he  had  shared  so  many  happy 
hours,  but  not  till  his  heart  was  strengthened  by  the  arrival  of  two 
fellow-labourers  from  England.  On  the  15th  of  October  he  com- 
menced his  voyage,  accompanied  for  a  little  distance  by  Mr.  Brown 
and  other  friends.  On  parting  from  them,  and  finding  himself  alone 
with  the  natives,  he  gave  himself  to  study,  diversified  by  conversa- 
tion with  his  moonshee  and  by  pauses  at  different  places  on  the 
route,  where  he  had  the  opportunity  of  conferring  with  the  people. 
At  Berhampore  he  stopped  for  one  day  with  the  hope  of  preaching 
to  the  soldiers,  but  the  privilege  was  not  granted,  and  on  the  26th 
of  November  he  arrived  at  Dinapore. 

The  objects  he  contemplated  at  this  station  were,  to  acquire  suffi- 
cient knowledge  of  the  Hindoostani  to  preach  in  that  language,  to 
establish  native  schools,  and  to  prepare  translations  of  Scripture  and 
religious  tracts  for  circulation.  While  on  his  passage  he  had  devised 
and  begun  a  translation  of  the  parables  with  comments,  which  he 
continued  after  his  arrival.  He  likewise  commenced  a  translation 
of  the  book  of  Common  Prayer  into  Hindoostani.  The  discussions 
he  had  with  his  teacher  were  of  a  character  to  wound  his  spirit  at 


112  HENRY     MARTYN. 

times,  and  the  natives  seemed  disposed  to  receive  his  approaclics 
with  jealousy. 

His  ministrations  to  the  English  residents  were  commenced  with 
some  discomforts.  Offence  was  taken  at  his  extempore  preaching, 
and  he  was  directly  requested  to  discontinue  it.  Many  of  them, 
especially  the  wealthy,  repulsed  all  his  efforts  at  religious  conver- 
sation. The  sentiments  current  among  the  Europeans  respecting 
his  missionary  employments  were  anj'thing  but  encouraging,  while 
the  necessity  of  meeting  these  difficulties  alone  gave  them  greater 
depressive  force.  His  work  of  translation,  however,  went  rapidly 
forward.  By  the  2-lth  of  February,  1807,  his  version  of  the  prayer 
book  was  completed,  and  on  Sunday,  March  15,  he  commenced  a 
service  in  Hindoostani,  The  commentary  on  the  parables  was  also 
completed  toward  the  end  of  this  month.  His  duties  on  the  Sabbath 
now  consisted  of  an  English  service  at  seven  in  the  morning,  Hin- 
doo service  at  two  in  the  afternoon,  and  attendance  at  the  hospital, 
■ — and  in  the  evening,  meeting  at  his  own  rooms  with  soldiers  who 
were  seriously  inclined.  In  these  duties  he  found  great  delight^, 
heightened  by  evidence  that  to  some  of  the  officers  his  instructions 
were  of  saving  benefit. 

In  the  month  of  June  he  was  requested  to  give  himself  with  more 
exclusiveness  to  completing  the  translation  of  the  New-Testament 
in  the  Hindoostani,  and  to  undertake  a  Persian  version,  tasks  upon 
which  he  entered  with  alacrity.  He  was  soon  after  deeply  afflicted 
by  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  his  eldest  sister.  The  severity 
of  the  blow  was  mitigated  by  the  knowledge  that  she  departed  in 
the  sure  hope  of  a  blessed  resurrection,  and  by  the  anticipation  of 
a  reunion  at  that  day.  But  greatly  as  he  was  moved  by  this  intelli- 
gence, he  would  not  suffer  it  to  divert  him  more  than  a  single  day 
from  his  appointed  tasks. 

The  schools,  of  which  several  had  been  established,  were  mean- 
Vv^hile  well  attended.  No  Christian  books  were  introduced  at  first, 
as  Mr.  Martyn  was  anxious  to  proceed  very  gradually,  that  the  jeal- 
ousy of  the  natives  might  not  break  up  the  schools,  and  thus  destroy 
one  important  agency  in  which  he  relied  for  future  success  in  dis- 
seminating the  word  of  truth.  He  now  put  the  sermon  on  the  mount 
into  the  hands  of  the  pupils,  a  measure  that  met  with  no  opposition, 
and  the  success  of  which  naturally  afforded  him  great  pleasure. 

The  arrival  of  two  assistants  in  the  work  of  translation  gave  a 
fresh  impulse  to  his  mind.     These  were  Mirza,  of  Benares,  a  widely- 


HENRY    MARTYJST.  113 

known  Hindoostani  scholar,  and  Sabat,  an  Arabian,  tlien  a  professed 
Christian,  but  afterwards  an  apostate  from  the  faith.  Mr.  Martyn 
welcomed  Sabat  as  a  brother  beloved,  and  anticipated  much  happi- 
ness from  cooperating  with  such  a  man,  heightened  by  the  long 
suffering  with  which  he  had  been  obliged  hitherto  to  endure  the 
contradictions  of  his  moonshee  and  pundit.  He  bore  with  the  evi- 
dences of  an  unsubdued  Arab  temper,  pride,  arrogance  and  jealousy, 
in  the  spirit  of  charity  that  "hopeth  all  things,"  loth  to  believe  the 
man  anything  else  than  a  sincere,  though  immature  and  very  imper- 
fect Christian,  and  by  his  efficient  aid  went  rapidly  and  successfully 
forward  with  the  Persian  New-Testament. 

At  the  beginning  of  1808  he  made  an  effort  to  do  something  for 
the  spiritual  benefit  of  the  Eoman  CathoJics  and  other  nominal 
Christians  in  Patna,  whose  state,  differing  for  the  better  in  no  import- 
ant respect  from  the  heathen  among  whom  they  lived,  had  strongly 
affected  him,  but  his  oflered  service  was  repulsed.  The  state  of  the 
weather  at  this  season  interrupted  the  regular  performance  of  divine 
service  at  Dinapore,  and  under  these  circumstances  he  opened  his 
own  house,  Avhere  he  preached  to  a  pretty  numerous  congregation. 
His  health,  however,  suffered  from  his  arduous  toils;  his  body  could 
not  execute  the  promptings  of  his  eager  spirit.  In  March  the 
Hindoostani  New-Testament  was  completed.  Through  the  remain- 
der of  the  year  he  was  engaged  in  its  revision,  in  the  superin- 
tendence of  the  Persian  translation,  and  in  the  study  of  Arabic  with 
a  view  of  undertaking  a  version  in  that  language.  Toward  the  close 
of  summer  he  had  a  severe  attack  of  illness  that  for  a  short  time 
seemed  to  threaten  his  life.  In  the  time  of  his  greatest  suffering, 
however,  his  mind  was  tranquil  and  even  joyous,  as  he  looked  back 
on  all  the  mercies  he  had  received,  and  forward  to  the  bliss  of 
heaven  that  appeared  so  near. 

In  February,  1809,  the  Four  Gospels  in  Persian  were  finished.  In 
the  month  of  April  Mr.  Martyn's  labours  at  Dinapore  were  arrested 
by  orders  to  remove  to  Cawnpore.  He  had  j  ust  succeeded  in  securing 
the  erection  of  a  church,  in  which  divine  service  could  be  celebrated 
in  comfort  and  decency,  and  he  anticipated  the  future  with  hope. 
It  is  true  that  the  immediate  effect  of  his  labours  was  slight.  A 
few  officers  and  soldiers  attested  the  power  of  the  gospel,  and  a  few 
women  attended  his  Hindoostani  service,  but  infidelity  and  an  entire 
contempt  of  the  truth  reigned  among  the  mass  of  the  European  res- 
idents, and  a  besotted  indifference  characterized  the  natives.  The 
8 


114:  HENRY  MARTYN. 

spring  of  his  activity,  however,  was  from  above,  not  from  without, 
and  with  all  its  toils  and  discouragements,  there  was  no  sphere  on 
earth  he  would  have  sought  in  preference  to  this.  While  his  body 
drooped  under  his  exhausting  labours,  and  his  soul  was  burdened 
by  the  aspects  of  depravity  that  he  felt  his  human  powers  unable  to 
contend  with,  he  found  peace  in  resting  with  unshaken  faith  on  Him 
whose  truth  he  proclaimed. 

Something,  though  so  little, — something  had  been  accomplished, 
and  to  leave  it  for  a  new  station,  where  all  must  be  newly  begun, 
was  no  slight  test  of  patience.  The  removal  was,  however,  accom- 
panied with  evil,  if  not  fatal,  effects  on  his  health.  No  doubt  his 
exertions  at  Dinapore  were  on  the  whole  too  much  for  his  powers 
of  endurance,  but  they  were  aggravated  by  the  change.  His  journey 
was  performed  at  a  time  when  the  heat  was  suffocating,  through  a 
barren  waste  that  made  the  air  like  that  of  a  furnace,  and  on  his 
arrival  at  Cawnpore  he  fainted  from  its  effects.  There  was  no  church 
in  which  to  shelter  his  head,  but  he  prayed  and  preached  under  the 
open  sky,  the  soldiers  drawn  up  in  a  hollow  square  around  him,  in 
an  atmosphere  so  oppressive  that  some  of  his  auditors  dropped  down 
in  the  midst  of  the  service. 

At  the  close  of  this  year  Mr.  Marty n's  soul  was  once  more  bowed 
with  sorrow  at  the  death  of  his  surviving  sister,  who  had  been  tlie 
instrument  of  so  much  spiritual  good  to  him  in  his  3^outh,  thus 
binding  her  to  his  heart  with  double  affection.  "0  what  a  barren 
desert,  what  a  howling  wilderness,"  he  exclaimed,  "does  this  world 
appear!  But  for  the  service  of  God  in  his  church,  and  the  prepara- 
tion of  my  own  soul,  I  do  not  know  that  I  would  wish  to  live 
another  day."  To  that  service  he  devoted  himself  with  continued 
energy.  About  this  time  he  began  his  first  public  ministrations  to 
the  heathen.  Hitherto  he  had  avoided  this,  through  apprehensions 
of  exciting  prejudice,  a  caution  which  we  should  incline  to  think 
excessive,  were  it  not  imposed  on  him  by  his  relations  to  the  East 
India  Company  as  an  army  chaplain.  The  danger  of  compromising 
the  government  in  provinces  where  its  influence  was  imperfectly 
established,  demanded  of  him  a  reserve  that  was  unfavourable,  if 
we  may  judge  by  comparison  with  the  labours  of  others  not  thus 
encumbered,  to  his  largest  influence  as  a  preaching  missionary. 

A  company  of  mendicants  being  in  the  habit  of  coming  for  alms, 
he  appointed  a  stated  day  to  receive  them,  that  he  might  not  be 
unduly  interrupted.     To  thi^  congregation,  sometimes  amounting  to 


HENEY     MARTYX.  115 

eight  hundred  persons,  he  preached  the  word  of  eternal  life;  his 
instructions  were  well  received,  and  not  long  after  he  had  the  happi- 
ness of  receiving  one  of  their  number  to  a  profession  of  humble 
faith  in  Christ.  These  labours  were  continued  through  the  earlj'- 
part  of  the  year  1810,  but  repeated  attacks  of  weakness  in  the  chest 
which  he  had  experienced  for  some  time,  and  that  seemed  to 
mark  him  as  the  victim  of  the  same  insidious  disease  which  had 
dcDrived  him  of  his  sisters,  compelled  him  to  suspend  his  exer- 
tions. While  deliberating  whether  to .  try  a  voyage  to  England, 
or  to  turn  in  some  other  direction  for  the  desired  relief,  the  neces- 
sity of  revising  the  Persian  New-Testament  decided  his  course. 
That  work  was  pronounced  by  competent  judges  to  be  removed  from 
the  comprehension  of  the  common  people,  by  too  great  elevation 
of  style,  and  by  the  frequent  occurrence  of  Arabic  idioms.  This 
was  a  great  disappointment  to  him,  more  especially  as  his  Hindoos- 
tani  version  was  pronounced  highly  successful.  He  now  decided  to 
visit  Persia  and  Arabia,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  new  Persian 
translation  and  undertaking  an  Arabic  version.  With  this  inten- 
tion he  preached  his  farewell  discourse  at  the  opening  of  a  new 
church,  the  erection  of  which  he  had  long  urged,  and  in  which  he 
had  fondly  hoped  to  proclaim  the  word  of  life  for  years  to  come. 

On  arriving  at  Calcutta,  the  joy  with  which  his  friends  received 
him  was  shaded  by  perceiving  how  greatly  his  bodily  vigour  had 
been  impaired  by  his  four  years'  labours.  Such  was  his  weakness 
that  he  could  not  indulge  freely  in  conversation  without  pain,  yet 
he  preached  every  Sunday  in  all  fidelity  during  the  two  months  that 
he  remained  there.  On  the  7th  of  January,  1811,  he  delivered  a 
discourse  on  the  anniversary  of  the  Calcutta  Bible  Society,  which 
was  afterwards  published,  and  on  the  same  day  addressed  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Calcutta  for  the  last  time  from  the  words,  "  But  one  thing 
is  needful." 

He  now  took  passage  in  a  ship  bound  for  Bombay,  having  for  a 
companion  on  his  voyage  the  Hon.  Mr.  Elphinstone,  Eesident  of 
Poonah.  From  the  captain,  who  had  been  a  pupil  of  Swartz,  he 
obtained  much  interesting  information  concerning  that  devoted  mis-' 
sionary.  He  arrived  at  Bombay  on  the  18th  of  February,  on  which 
day  he  completed  the  30th  year  of  his  age,  "the  age  at  which 
David  Brainard  finished  his  course.  I  am  now,"  he  adds,  in  that 
spirit  of  humility  which  he  cherished  by  ever  looking  from  himself 
to  his  Divine  Exemplar,  "at  the  age  at  which  the  Saviour  of  men 


116  HENRY    MARTYN. 

began  his  ministiy,  and  at  which.  John  the  Baptist  called  a  nation 
to  repentance.  Let  me  now  think  for  myself,  and  act  with  energy. 
Hitherto  I  have  made  my  youth  and  insignificance  an  excuse  for 
sloth  and  imbecility ;  now  let  me  have  a  character,  and  act  boldly 
for  God." 

At  Bombay  he  remained  nearly  a  month,  making  inquiries  concern- 
ing the  native  Christians,  and  conversing  with  Parsees  and  Moham- 
medans on  religion.  On  the  25th  of  March,  he  embarked  in  a  vessel 
ordered  to  cruise  in  the  Persian  Gulf  against  pirates,  and  landed  on  the 
22d  of  May  at  Bushire  in  Persia,  whence  he  proceeded  by  land  to 
Shiraz.  The  heat  was  so  intense  that  his  life  was  endangered;  at 
Ahmede,  under  the  shade  of  a  tree,  the  only  shelter  they  could  get, 
the  thermometer  rose  to  126*^.  At  Shiraz  he  commenced  his  new 
version  of  the  New-Testament  in  Persian,  with  the  aid  of  Mirza  Seid 
Ali  Khan,  a  learned  Mohammedan,  characterized  by  much  liberality 
of  feeling.  With  him  Mr.  Martyn  had  frequent  and  free  discus- 
sions, in  which  the  Mussulman  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  with 
tears  the  excellence  of  Christianity,  and  once  confessed  that  from 
childhood  he  had  been  seeking  a  religion,  and  was  still  undecided. 
Other  Mohammedans  and  several  Jews  visited  him,  and  much  curi- 
osity was  excited  in  the  town 'concerning  his  character  and  designs. 
At  first  he  kept  open  house,  ready  to  receive  all  who  called,  but  in 
July  he  removed  to  a  garden  in  the  suburbs,  where,  secluded  from 
interruption,  he  pursued  his  work  and  enjoyed  his  Sabbaths  with 
unaccustomed  pleasure. 

From  this  retreat  he  was  summoned  to  hold  a  public  dispute  with 
the  Professor  of  Mohammedan  law,  an  antagonist  whose  rank  and 
distinction  made  him  formidable;  but  the  great  man  was  too  digni- 
fied to  reason;  he  inflicted  a  tedious  lecture  on  Mr.  Martyn,  taking 
little  notice  of  his  objections.  Others,  however,  were  not  so  blind 
to  them,  and  he  began  to  fear  the  result  of  Mr.  Martyn's  enterprise. 
lie  accordingly  wrote  an  elaborate  and  subtle  defence  of  Moham- 
medanism, of  which  his  antagonist  produced  a  cogent  refutation, 
not  shrinking  from  the  most  frank  exposure  of  the  system  in  ques- 
tion, and  holding  up  the  Christian  system  as  infinitely  superior.  He 
was  told  by  a  nephew  of  the  Prince  Euza  Cooli  Mirza,  that  the 
proper  answer  to  his  reasonings  would  be  the  sword.  To  much  in 
Christianity  free  assent  was  given,  but  the  doctrine  of  the  divinity 
of  Christ  was  the  great  stumbling  block  with  Mohammedans.  "  Their 
sneers,"  Mr.  Martyn  writes,  "are  more  difficult  to  bear  than   the 


HENRY    MARTYN.  117 

brickbats  which  the  boys  sometimes  throw  at  me :  however,  both  are 
an  honour  of  which  I  am  not  worthy."  His  reply  was  felt  by  his 
learned  opponent,  who  came  to  inquire  into  the  principles  of  Chris- 
tianit}'  in  a  manner  which  indicated  that  the  shaft  had  taken  effect. 

The  translation  of  the  New-Testament  made  such  progress  that  in 
November,  Mr.  Martyn  ordered  two  splendid  copies  to  be  prepared 
for  the  King  of  Persia  and  his  son,  the  Prince  Abbas  Mirza.  Hav- 
ing determined  to  spend  the  winter  at  Shiraz  he  commenced  a  ver- 
sion of  the  Psalms  in  Persian,  The  year  1812  was  entered  upon  by 
him  with  an  apparent  presentiment  that  his  time  was  short.  "The 
present  year  will  probably  be  a  perilous  one,  but  my  life  is  of  little 
consequence,  whether  I  live  to  finish  the  Persian  New-Testament 
or  do  not.  I  look  back  with  pity  and  shame  on  my  former  self,  and 
on  the  importance  I  then  attached  to  my  life  and  labours.    The  more 

I  see  of  my  own  works,  the  more  I  am  ashamed  of  them I 

am  sick  when  I  look  at  man  and  his  wisdom  and  his  doings,  and  am 
relieved  only  by  reflecting  that  we  have  a  city  whose  builder  and 
maker  is  God.  The  least  of  His  works  it  is  refreshing  to  look  at. 
A  dried  leaf  or  a  straw  makes  me  feel  in  good  company." 

He  had  need  to  look  for  company  to  God's  inanimate  works.  To 
be  condemned,  as  he  was,  to  dwell  without  Christian  society  in  a 
city  full  of  all  manner  of  wickedness,  where  his  purposes  and  hopes 
were  viewed  either  with  contempt  or  ignorant  wonder,  was  a  severe 
trial  to  his  mind,  and  he  was  able,  he  said,  to  understand  the  feel- 
ings of  Lot.  "The  face  of  the  poor  Russian  appears  to  me  like  the 
face  of  an  angel,  because  he  does  not  tell  lies."  Yet  he  had  the 
consolation  of  finding  some  who  were  curious  to  know,  if  not  ready 
to  obey,  the  truth.  To  such,  the  strangest  part  of  his  faith  was  his 
assured  hope  of  eternal  life.  Aga  Ali,  a  Mede,  once  asked,  How 
did  he  know  he  should  be  saved?  Was  it  by  tliese  loohs?  "What 
was  the  beginning  of  it?  Was  it  the  society  of  friends?  In  answer 
to  these  inquiries  he  related  his  religious  history.  Could  the  same 
benefit  be  conferred  upon  them? — "Yes;  I  bring  you  this  message 
from  God,  that  he  who,  despairing  of  himself,  rests  for  righteousness 
on  the  Son  of  God,  shall  receive  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  to 
this  I  can  add  my  testimony,  if  that  be  worth  anything,  that  I  have 
found  the  promise  fulfilled  in  myself" — "What!  would  you  have 
me  believe  as  a  child?" — "Yes." — "True;  I  think  that  is  the  only 
way.    Certainly,"  he  added,  as  he  turned  away,  "he  is  a  good  man!" 

On  the  18th  of  February,  the  thirty-first  and  last  birth-day  he 


118  HENRY    MARTYN. 

commemorated,  lie  notes  that  the  ISTew-Testament  was  completed, 
except  the  last  eight  chapters  of  the  Revelation,  Six  days  after,  the 
work  was  concluded ;  and  the  version  of  the  Psalms,  "a  sweet  employ- 
ment," he  said,  which  "caused  six  weary  moons  that  waxed  and 
waned  since  its  commencement,  to  pass  unnoticed,"  was  finished  b}' 
the  middle  of  March.  About  this  time  he  had  another  public 
dispute  with  his  former  antagonist,  Mirza  Ibrahim,  in  which  he 
intrepidly  defended  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  and  effectual]}^  silenced 
opposition. 

On  the  24th  of  May,  Mr.  Martyn  left  Shiraz  for  Tebriz,  to  procure 
from  the  British  ambassador  a  letter  of  introduction  to  the  king, 
with  a  view  of  presenting  to  him  the  New-Testament.  Had  he  fore- 
seen the  hazards  of  this  enterprise  it  is  not  likely  he  would  have 
incurred  them  for  an  object  so  comparatively  unimportant.  The 
journey  occupied  eight  weeks,  and  when  he  finally  reached  the 
royal  camp  at  Carach  he  was  not  admitted  to  an  audience.  He  then 
went  to  Sultania,  intending  to  wait  an  audience  there,  but  found  it 
impracticable  to  do  so.  In  his  return  to  Tebriz  he  suffered  dread- 
fully from  fever,  which  prostrated  him  after  his  arrival  at  that  city 
for  two  months.  The  English  ambassador  showed  him  much  kind- 
ness, and  volunteered  to  present  the  Testament  to  the  king.  His 
majesty  gave  it  his  approbation,  and  the  work  was  printed  at  St. 
Petersburg  for  distribution. 

On  recovering  from  his  illness  he  decided  to  return  to  England 
for  the  more  complete  restoration  of  his  health,  a  wise  step  in  itself, 
but  imprudently  attempted  too  soon, — on  the  tenth  day  after  his 
recovery.  Setting  out  on  horseback  with  his  attendants,  he  left 
Tebriz  on  the  2d  of  September  for  Constantinople.  The  journey 
was  tedious,  but  he  kept  his  mind  occupied  with  study  and  medita- 
tion on  the  Scriptures,  and  found  at  Echmiadzen  and  Erzroom  a 
hospitality  and  fraternal  welcome  from  the  Armenians,  that  con- 
trasted cheerfully  with  the  rudeness  he  met  from  the  Mohammedans. 
Once  or  twice  he  was  in  danger  from  robbers,  but  escaped  without 
harm.  On  the  29th,  soon  after  leaving  Erzroom,  he  was  attacked 
with  fever  and  ague.  At  the  close  of  the  next  day's  journey  he 
was  so  far  weakened  that  he  nearly  fainted.  The  next  two  days  his 
attendants  drove  him  furiously  forward,  much  of  the  way  in  the 
rain.  Repose  alleviated  his  suffei'ings,  and  he  went  on  through  an 
other  day  at  the  same  merciless  speed  till  he  was  compelled  to  halt. 
He  was  permitted  to  rest  at  a  small  village,  where  his  fever  increased 


HENRY    MARTYN.  119 

till  lie  was  nearly  frantic;  his  attendants  believed  him  really  delirious, 
and  minded  nothing  he  said. 

After  gaining  a  little  sleep  he  was  hurried  off,  and  reached  Tocafe, 
in  a  state  of  weakness  that  made  farther  progress  impossible.  Here 
on  the  6th  of  October  he  made  a  final  entry  in  his  journal,  a  fitting 
conclusion  of  the  record  of  such  a  life.  "I  sat  in  the  orchard,"  he 
says,  "and  thought  with  sweet  comfort  and  peace  of  my  Grod,  in 
solitude  my  company,  my  friend  and  comforter.  O,  when  shall 
time  give  place  to  eternity !  When  shall  appear  that  new  heaven 
and  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness!  There,  there  shall 
in  no  wise  enter  in  anything  that  defileth:  none  of  that  wickedness 
which  has  made  men  worse  than  wild  beasts,  none  of  those  corrup- 
tions which  add  still  more  to  the  miseries  of  mortality  shall  be  seen 
or  heard  of  any  more." 

In  this  state  he  looked  forward  to  his  "perfect  consummation  and 
bliss."  Ten  days  after,  either  sinking  under  the  disease  that  arrested 
his  journey,  or  falling  by  the  plague  that  then  prevailed  there,  he 
exchanged  the  sufterings  of  this  present  life  for  "a  far  more  exceed- 
ing and  eternal  weight  of  glory." 

The  intelligence  of  this  unexpected  event  was  received  with  pro- 
found grief  both  in  India  and  England.  His  great  powers  of  mind 
and  wide  compass  of  knowledge, — the  celerity  with  which  he  exe- 
cuted the  most  difficult  undertakings,  and  the  sincerity  with  which 
his  whole  being  was  devoted  to  the  service  of  his  Divine  Master, 
made  his  withdrawal  from  his  earthly  mission  an  afflictive  dispensa- 
tion to  all  who  had  hopefully  watched  the  promise  of  his  early 
manhood.  To  such  as  had  enjoyed  the  happiness  of  personal  com- 
munion with  him,  the  blow  was  more  severe,  as  the  bond  it  sundered 
was  more  tender,  and  it  was  an  affecting  thought  that,  in  the  hour 
of  nature's  extremity,  he  was  left  without  the  consolations  of  Chris- 
tian sympathy  or  the  offices  of  friendship.  But  it  was  so  ordered, 
and  though  few.  could  so  gratefully  have  felt  the  value  of  such  alle- 
viations at  such  an  hour,  few  needed  them  less.  His  grave  remained 
without  a  monument  till  1823,  when  Claudius  James  Rich,  Esq., 
English  Resident  at  Bagdad,  consecrated  a  stone  to  his  memory. 
More  durable  monuments  were  his  versions  of  the  New  Testament, 
which  have  every  requisite  for  permanent  circulation,  and  his  trans- 
lation of  the  English  liturgy,  by  the  aid  of  which  many  a  Christian 
congregation  will  offer  prayers  and  praises,  where  now  the  name  of 
God  is  only  heard  to  be  pi'ofaned.     It  is  the  peculiar  characteristic 


120  nEXRY     MARTYN. 

of  a  missionary's  work,  that  it  is  linked  with  imperishable  results. 
Time,  which  dims  the  memory  of  earthly  heroes,  shall  but  brighten 
that  of  Christian  champions;  and  eternity  has  in  reserve  for  them 
honours  that  it  is  not  now  permitted  us  to  conceive,  much  less 
describe,  but  that  are  embodied  in  words  whose  sublime  import  tasks 
the  highest  imagination — the  joy  of  their  lord. 


GORDON    HALL. 


Gordon  Hall,  one  of  tlie  pioneers  in  American  missions  to  the 
heathen,  was  born  at  Tolland,  Massachusetts,  April  8, 1784.  In  his 
childhood  he  was  noted  for  vivacity,  force  of  will  and  versatility  of 
talents.  Endowed  with  no  little  wit  and  humour,  joined  to  active 
bodily  habits,  he  was  a  leader  in  all  the  amusements  appropriate  to 
childhood  and  youth,  and  as  he  grew  up  he  showed  a  fondness  for 
mechanical  contrivance,  in  the  exercise  of  which  he  spent  much  of 
his  leisure  time.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  it  is  related,  he  undertook 
to  construct  an  air  balloon  from  a  description  he  had  read;  of  his 
success  we  have  no  account,  but  the  attempt  was  characteristic. 

Early  in  life  he  acquired  a  taste  for  reading  and  composition. 
His  first  attempts  at  literature  were  of  a  satirical  turn,  aimed  at 
individuals  of  the  neighbourhood,  an  occupation  for  which  we  can 
readily  believe  he  found  abundant  scope.  There  are  not  a  few 
retired  New  England  towns  that  have  a  store  of  eccentric  characters, 
whose  originalities  would  make  the  fortune  of  an  observing  humour- 
ist, lie  laboured  upon  his  father's  farm  till  his  nineteenth  year, 
when  he  commenced  a  course  of  classical  study,  under  the  direction 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Harrison,  the  minister  of  the  parish.  He  offered  him- 
self for  examination  at  Williams  College  in  February,  1805,  and 
received  the  special  commendation  of  the  President.  "  That  young 
man,"  said  Dr.  Fitch,  "has  not  studied  the  languages  like  a  parrot, 
but  has  got  hold  of  their  very  radix."  His  course  as  a  scholar 
justified  this  praise.  Foremost  in  the  generous  competition,  he  was 
graduated  with  the  highest  honour. 

When  entering  college  he  was  not  a  professing  Christian,  though 
well  instructed  in  the  principles  of  religion  by  the  care  of  a  pious 
mother.  In  1805  a  revival  of  religion  commenced  in  Williamstown, 
the  influence  of  which  during  the  following  year  extended  into  the 
college.  Mr.  Hall  was  not  insensible  to  the  power  of  religious  truth, 
and  in  letters  to  his  friends  showed  much  solemnity  of  feeling,  but 
obtained  no  satisfactory  evidence  of  piety,  till  the  commencement 


122  GORDON    HALL. 

of  liis  third  collegiate  year.  The  state  of  the  college  at  that  time 
was  unfavourable  to  the  exercise  of  active  piety.  Infidelity  and 
irreligion  had  been  to  some  extent  rife  among  the  students,  and  the 
prevailing  political  excitement  was  fitted  to  induce  a  feverish  rest- 
lessness of  mind  uncongenial  to  the  cultivation  of  a  Christian  spirit. 
The  revival  had  indeed  done  much  to  counteract  these  influences, 
yet  it  was  not  easy,  even  then,  for  a  mind  not  strongly  anchored  by 
independent  principle  to  withstand  the  strong  current  of  skepticism 
and  worldliness.  Bat  Gordon  Hall  had  a  robust  manliness  of  spirit 
not  to  be  deterred  from  a  straightforward  course  on  the  line  marked 
out  by  his  conscience  and  sober  judgment.  This  gave  him  power, 
and  he  fearlessly  exerted  it  in  behalf  of  religion.  Those  who  were 
contemporary  with  him  could  not  soon  forget  the  impression  made 
by  his  bold  and  manly  bearing,  and  there  are  some  now  among  the 
living  who  can  bear  witness  to  the  inflexible  fidelity  with  which  he 
maintained  the  attitude  of  a  Christian  scholar. 

At  what  time  his  mind  was  first  directed  to  the  subject  of  missions 
is  not  certainly  known,  but  it  must  have  been  very  soon  after  his 
conversion.  In  the  class  below  him  was  Samuel  J.  Mills,  a  man 
who,  without  extraordinary  talents,  but  with  an  energy  of  faith  and 
profound  benevolence  such  as  are  rarely  exemplified,  succeeded,  in 
his  own  words,  in  making  his  "influence  felt  to  the  remotest  corner 
of  this  ruined  world."  Unlike  Hall,  Mills  had  entered  college  with 
an  established  religious  character,  and  was  studying  with  a  view  to 
the  Christian  ministry,  and  with  a  desire  to  exercise  his  ministry 
among  the  heathen.  As  early  as  1802  his  father  overheard  him 
/saying  that  "he  could  not  conceive  of  any  course  of  life  in  which 
'xto  pass  the  rest  of  his  days,  that  would  prove  so  pleasant  as  to  go 
and  communicate  the  gospel  of  salvation  to  the  poor  heathen," — a 
remark  which  was  noted  as  one  of  the  first  decisive  proofs  of 
personal  piety  he  had  shown.  The  subject  continued  to  occupy  his 
thoughts,  but  his  plans  were  not  disclosed  to  others  till  the  year 

1807,  when  he  conferred  with  Hall,  and  found  him  ready  to  respond 
to  his  aspiration;^.  In  the  summer  or  autumn  of  that  year  he  spent 
a  day  in  fasting  ar.d  prayer  by  the  side  of  a  large  haystack  in  a 
meadow  near  the  Hoosick  river,  in  company  with  James  Eichards 
and  Robert  C.  Bobbins.  Their  hearts  flowed  together,  and  a  sacred 
union  was  formed,  destined  to  ripen  into  an  enterprise  wider  and 
more  effective  than  they  could  then  have  hoped.     In  September, 

1808,  a  society  was  formed,  whose  object  was  stated  to  be,  "to  effect 


GORDON    HALL.  123 

in  the  2'>erso}is  of  Us  members  a  mission  or  missions  to  the  heatlien." 
The  constitution  admitted  none  as  members  who  were  "under  any 
engagement  which  should  be  incompatible  with  going  on  a  mission." 
Each  member  was  pledged  to  "keep  absolutely  free  from  every 
engagement  which,  after  his  prayerful  attention  and  after  consulta- 
tion with  his  brethren,  should  be  deemed  incompatible  with  the 
objects  of  this  society;"  and  to  "hold  himself  in  readiness  to  go  on 
a  mission  when  and  where  duty  might  call."* 

This  constitution  was  originally  signed  by  Mills,  Richards,  Rob- 
bins,  Luther  Rice,  Ezra  Fisk,  and  Daniel  Smead,  and  seems  to  have 
been  the  first  foreign  missionary  organization  in  America,  Though 
Hall,  for  some  reason,  did  not  unite  in  its  formation,  there  is  evi- 
dence that  his  heart  was  in  the  work  fi^om  the  first,  that  he  was 
fully  cognizant  of  the  steps  taken  by  his  fellow-students,  and  was 
ready  to  cooperate  with  them  to  the  extent  of  his  ability.  In  the 
high  resolves,  fervent  prayers  and  secret  communings  of  this  little 
band,  far  from  human  observation  and  human  sympathy,  were  laid 
the  foundations  of  one  of  the  greatest  moral  enterprises  of  the 
American  churches. 

The  constitution  of  the  society  was  kept  a  profound  secret,  and  the 
original  agreement  was  written  and  signed  in  cipher.  For  such  a 
course  there  were  reasons  grounded  on  the  state  of  public  opinion 
with  respect  to  missions,  and  in  the  situation  and  plans  of  the  young 
men  who  formed  it.  By  a  large  portion  of  the  religious  public,  such 
schemes  were  regarded  as  impracticable.  There  was  great  risk  of 
failure,  not,  certainly,  from  any  liability  to  vacillation  on  their  own 
part,  but  from  want  of  support  by  the  churches.  Public  action,  that 
should  prove  abortive,  could  only  injure  them  and  the  cause  they 
-sought  to  serve.  They  were  young,  unpractised  in  any  popular  arts, 
and  destitute  of  personal  influence.  Mills,  who  was  the  master-spirit 
of  the  movement,  and  gave  it  form  and  direction,  was  constitution- 
ally inclined  to  the  policy  they  pursued.  He  was  unaffectedly 
modest,  humble,  distrustful  of  his  own  capacity,  but  had  great  faith 
in  the  power  and  merciful  purposes  of  God.  He  was  not  disposed, 
therefore,  to  seek  great  things  for  himself  He  had  no  wish  to  figure 
in  the  van  of  the  enterprise,  confident  as  he  was  that  Providence 
would  in  due  season  set  it  forward.  He  was  inclined  to  pray  and 
wait, — not  inactively,  but  in  the  exercise  of  an  unobtrusive  influence, 

*  Tracy's  HisL  of  the  A?n.  Board. — Pres.  Hopkins'  SemuCentemu  Address, 
(Miscellanies,  280.) 


124:  GORDON     HALL. 

suggesting  his  plans  toothers  whose  position  in  the  churches  gave 
them  power  to  move  the  public  mind. 

With  these  views  the  members  of  the  little  society  set  themselves 
to  diffuse  a  missionary  spirit,  to  enlist  other  individuals  in  the 
scheme,  and  especially  to  interest  clergymen  whose  character  gave 
ground  to  hope  for  their  cooperation.  Rev.  Drs.  Worcester,  of  Salem, 
Spring,  of Newburyport,  Morse,  of  Charlestown,  and  Griffin,  then 
settled  in  Newark,  N.  J.,  afterwards  President  of  Williams  College, 
were  more  particularly  looked  to.  These  all  became  prominent  in 
forwarding  the  work  of  missions,  but  Dr.  Worcester  is  believed  to 
have  been  first  enlisted.  Attempts  were  made  to  awaken  an  interest 
among  the  students  of  other  colleges.  For  this  purpose  one  of  their 
number  took  a  dismission  to  Middlebury  College,  Mills  visited  Yale, 
a  correspondence  was  opened  with  members  of  Dartmouth  and  Union 
Colleges.  The  association  also  published  and  circulated  two  sermons 
at  their  own  expense,  to  move  the  public  mind. 

After  graduating,  in  1808,  Mr.  Hall  commenced  the  study  of  the- 
ology at  Washington,  Connecticut,  with  Rev.  Dr.  Porter,  afterwards 
a  professor  in  Andover  Theological  Seminary,  Mass.  "The  devel- 
opment of  his  powers,  during  his  theological  investigations,"  says 
Dr.  Porter,*  "satisfied  me  that,  in  intellectual  strength  and  discrim- 
ination, he  was  more  than  a  common  man.  Of  this,  however,  he 
was  apparently  unconscious,  being  simple  and  unpretending  in  his 
manners."  Dr.  Porter  specially  testifies  to  his  steadfast  piety,  perse- 
vering industry,  sobriety  of  judgment  and  inflexible  decision.  While 
at  Washington  he  was  appointed  a  tutor  in  Williams  College,  but 
declined  the  office.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  in  about  a  year,  and 
invited  to  supply  the  pulpit  of  the  Congregational  church  in  Wood- 
bury, Conn.,  as  a  candidate  for  settlement.  He  consented  to  go,  but 
with  the  condition  that  he  should  be  under  no  obligation  to  become 
their  pastor, — in  accordance  with  his  fixed  determination  to  keep 
clear  of  engagements  incompatible  with  a  missionar}^  life,  provided 
any  opening  should  offer  itself  in  that  direction.  This  determination, 
and  the  tenacity  with  which  he  held  it,  were  well  understood.  Mills, 
then  at  New  Haven,  writing  to  a  friend  binder  date  of  December  22, 
1809,  declared  that  Gordon  Hall  was  "ordained  and  stamped  a  mis- 
sionary by  the  sovereign  hand  of  God."  He  remained  at  Woodbury 
till  June  1810,  occasionally  preaching  in  other  places,  among  others 
at  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  where  he  spent  two  months.  While  at  Pittsfield 
*  Am.  Quarterly  Register  ii.  209 


GORDON    HALL.  125 

lie  seems  to  have  wavered  between  foreign  and  domestic  missions, 
on  account  of  the  uncertainty  that  rested  on  the  prospect  of  com- 
mencing a  mission  to  the  heathen.* 

On  leaving  Woodbury,  in  June,  he  connected  himself  with  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Andover.  There,  in  concert  with  Mills, 
Eichards,  Rice,  and  other  kindred  spirits,  their  plans  were  matured 
and  their  purposes  ripened  into  decided  action.  Their  circle  had 
received  an  important  accession  in  the  person  of  Adoniram  Judson, 
then  lately  reclaimed  from  the  snares  of  infidelit}',  whose  thoughts 
and  desires  had  been  directed  to  the  work  of  missions  without  the 
knowledge  of  what  had  been  long  passing  in  the  minds  of  others. 
His  impulsive  spirit  was  ill  tutored  to  wait  with  all  the  patience 
that  characterized  his  associates.  The  arrival  of  Hall  was  opportune. 
With  less  impetuosity  than  Judson,  he  had  great  courage  and  deci- 
sion of  character.  The  two  united  in  dissuading  farther  delay. 
Judson  was  ready  to  seek  the  aid  of  British  Christians,  if  those  in 
America  held  back  from  the  work.  Hall  said  he  would  work  his 
passage  to  India,  and  rely,  under  Providence,  on  his  own  resources. 
It  was  decided  that  the  time  had  come  to  go  forward.  The  faculty 
of  the  Theological  Seminary  were  consulted,  and  approved  of  their 
plans.  A  meeting  for  consultation  and  prayer  was  held  at  Andover 
June  25,  1810,  and  it  was  determined  to  bring  the  subject  before 
the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  then  about  to  assemble 
at  Bradford.  Rev.  Drs,  Worcester  and  Spring  were  present,  and 
the  next  da,y,  as  they  were  riding  in  a  chaise  to  Bradford,  a  board 
of  missions  was  proposed  and  a  plan  of  organization  suggested. 

The  General  Association  convened  on  the  27th,  and  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  28th,  Messrs.  Judson,  Mills,  Samuel  jSTott,  Jr.,  and  Sam- 
uel Newell,  were  introduced  by  Dr.  Spring,  and  presented  to  the 
body  a  written  statement  of  their  views  and  wishes,  soliciting  the 
advice  of  their  fathers  in  the  ministry.  After  hearing  from  them  a 
more  particular  statement,  their  memorial  was  referred  to  Rev.  Drs. 
Spring  and  Worcester  and  Rev.  Enoch  Hale.  They  reported  on  the 
following  day,  approving  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  these  young  men, 

*  It  may  have  been  tliis  circumstance,  in  connexion,  perhaps,  with  some 
concurring  focts  of  the  same  nature,  that  led  Mr.  Judson  some  years  later  to  affirm 
that  those  who  came  to  Andover  from  Williams  College,  had  limited  their  views  to 
missions  at  the  west.  The  aspirations  of  ]Mills,  as  we  have  seen,  were  limited  only 
by  the  bounds  of  "this  ruined  world."  But  the  aspects  of  the  time  were  far  from 
hopeful,  and  might  have  made  the  most  stout-hearted  de-spond. 


12G  GORDON    HALL. 

recognising  the  duty  of  giving  tlie  gospel  to  the  heathen,  and  recom- 
mending the  formation  of  a  society  for  this  object.  They  further 
recommended  to  the  applicants  to  continue  their  studies,  holding 
themselves  in  readiness  to  go  forward  whenever  a  way  should  be 
opened  and  the  necessary  means  should  be  provided.  The  report 
Avas  adopted,  the  plan  approved,  and  the  members  of  a  board 
elected,  who  organized  themselves  at  Farmington,  Connecticut, 
September  5,  1810,  by  the  name  of  the  American  Board  of  Comviia- 
sionersfor  Foreign  Missions.  Dr.  Worcester  was  chosen  Correspond- 
ing Secretary,  atid  an  address  was  issued  to  the  Christian  public, 
bespeaking  their  favour  for  the  enterprise.  The  young  men  whose 
application  gave  the  impulse  to  these  proceedings  were  meanwhile 
advised  to  continue  their  studies  till  the  necessary  information  and 
pecuniary  resources  should  be  obtained  by  the  Board.* 

*  The  honour  of  originating  the  Board  of  Commissioners  has  been  ohiimed  for 
different  persons.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  in  tliis,  as  in  many  important  move- 
ments, several  minds  were  drawn  by  a  common  influence  to  the  same  result.  In  tlie 
order  of  time,  Mills  was  unquestionably  first,  having  felt  the  stirrings  of  missionary 
zeal  as  early  as  1802.  Rirhards  was  under  the  influence  of  similar  feelings  before 
he  knew  anything  of  Mills's  designs.  The  same  is  said  to  have  been  the  case  with 
Hall,  though  the  direct  evidence  of  this  is  scanty,  and  somewhat  doubtful.  In  1808, 
these  and  otliers,  members  of  Williams  College,  had  advanced  so  far  as  to  unite  in 
acts  of  personal  consecration  to  the  work.  Judson  dated  his  impressions  in  the 
autumn  of  1809,  and  his  purpose  was  fixed  before  he  knew  that  others  were  prepared 
to  sympathize  with  him.  So  that  four  persons  successively.  Mills,  Richards,  Hail 
and  Judson,  from  independent  thought  acting  on  sep:u-ate  suggestions,  were  provi- 
dentially put  in  training  to  give  a  united  and  powerful  impulse  to  the  spirit  of  missions 
in  the  American  churches. 

Of  these  persons.  Mills,  though  early  self-devoted  to  the  work,  was  not  permitted 
to  engage  personally  in  its  prosecution.  His  character  eminently  fitted  him  to  exert 
a  moving  influence  on  the  minds  of  others,  while  his  consecration  to  the  divine  ser- 
vice and  his  ardent  desire  to  promote  the  highest  human  welfare,  uniformly  directed 
his  energies  to  pure  and  exalted  ends.  He  contributed  largely  to  the  setting  in 
motion  of  some  of  the  most  important  religious  charities  in  our  country.  Besides 
liis  agency  in  forming  the  Board  of  Missions,  he  originated  the  Foreign  Mission 
School,  which  was  maintained  for  ten  years  at  Cornwall,  Conn.,  for  the  education  of 
heathen  youth.  The  United  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  operating  within  the  limits 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  afterwards  united  with  the  American  Board,  was 
formed  at  his  suggestion.  The  American  Bible  Society  sprung  directly  from  his 
counsels:  and  he  bore  a  principal  part  in  the  movement  that  origimted  the  American 
Colonization  Society,  in  whose  service,  as  an  agent  for  exploring  the  coast  of  Africa 
to  fix  the  site  of  a  colony,  he  met  his  end,  and  found  a  grave  in  the  ocean.  Few  men 
have  made  their  mark  so  deeply  in  the  history  of  what  is  most  vit:il  to  the  progress 
of  the  world,  and  fewer  still  have  been  so  indiflerent  to  the  question  whether  it  would 


GORDON    HALL.  127 

The  progress  of  tlie  Board,  notwithstanding  the  favour  with  which 
it  was  viewed  by  many  persons  of  influence,  was  slow.  That  senti- 
ment of  religious  "  liberality,"  which  for  thirty  years  had  been  silently 
supplanting  the  ancient  theological  landmarks  of  New  England,  and 
was  soon  to  sunder  the  Puritan  churches  into  two  sects,  having 
scarcely  anything  in  common  but  their  forms  of  ecclesiastical  organ- 
ization and  the  memory  of  a  common  origin,  had  wrought  a  degree 
of  religious  apathy,  disturbed  only  by  the  beginnings  of  a  contro- 
versy as  yet  not  foreseen  in  its  full  intensity.  The  subject,  more- 
over, though  not  absolutely  new,-  was  little  considered  as  a  practical 
reality.  Some  were  for  postponing  the  claims  of  the  world  at  large 
for  those  of  our  own  country.  Some  thought  the  scheme  visionary. 
Few  were  prepared  to  say,  Go  forward.  Under  these  circumstances 
the  Board  entertained  the  design  of  effecting  an  arrangement  with 
the  London  Missionary  Society  for  a  joint  superintendence  and  sup- 
port of  missions,  conducted  through  missionaries  appointed  by  the 
Board  here.  Mr.  Judson  was  despatched  to  England  to  confer  on 
this  subject.  The  directors  of  the  London  Society  expressed  a  will- 
ingness to  receive  Mr,  Judson  and  his  associates  under  their  patron- 
age, but  deemed  a  joint  management  impracticable. 

This  reply,  though  very  natural  and  just,  could  hardly  meet  th(: 
views  of  the  Board.  Meanwhile,  indications  appeared  of  a  measure- 
of  public  liberality  sufficient  to  justify  independent  action.  Accord- 
ingly, at  the  meeting  in  1811,  the  Board  appointed  Messrs.  Judson 
Nott,  Newell  and  Hall,  as  its  missionaries,  and  designated  the  Bur- 
man  empire,  or  some  contiguous  territory  out  of  the  British  juris- 
diction, as  their  field  of  labour. 

Mr.  Hall  had  much  to  overcome  in  accepting  this  mission'.  The. 
congregation  in  Woodbury  were  greatly  attached  to  him,  and  gave 
him  a  pressing  invitation  to  settle  with  them.  From  the  tenour  of 
letters  to  his  parents  it  would  seem  that  he  met  with  opposition 
from  them.  But  he  had  too  long  and  too  devoutly  meditated  on  the 
claims  of  the  heathen  to  confer  with  flesh  and  blood,  or  to  yield 
himself  to  considerations  of  ease  and  present  favour.  To  the  call 
from  Woodbury  he  replied.  Dr.  Porter  informs  us,*  with  "a  glist- 

he  rcoognised  by  others.  He  was  content,  nay,  he  preferred  to  work  out  of  sight,  if 
tlie  desire  of  his  heart  could  be  so  accomplished,  and  it  was  not  till  his  earthly  task 
was  ended  that  the  world  was  permitted  to  know  the  extent  of  its  obligations  to  him, 
or  summoned  to  do  justice  to  his  (character. 

*  Am.  Qu.  Reg.,  ut  supr. 


128  GORDON    HALL. 

cuing  eje  and  firm  accent:"' — "No,  I  must  not  settle  in  any  parish  in 
Christendom.  Others  will  be  left  whose  health  or  preengagements 
require  them  to  stay  at  home;  but  I  can  sleep  on  the  ground,  can 
endure  hunger  and  hardship;  God  calls  me  to  the  heathen; — wo  to 
me,  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel  to  the  heathen!"  The  same  duty  he 
likewise  urged  on  others,  with  singular  directness  and  force.  Having 
his  heart  fully  set,  he  made  careful  preparation.  Early  in  1811  he 
resided  some  time  in  Boston  to  attend  medical  lectures,  that  he  might 
increase  his  usefulness  as  a  missionary,  and  after  his  appointment  in 
the  following  September,  he  repaired  with  Mr.  Newell  to  Philadelphia 
for  the  same  purpose.  In  a  letter  addressed  to  his  parents  and  his 
brother  from  that  city,  he  makes  an  earnest  appeal  that  they  would 
give  their  cheerful  assent  to  his  plans.  "Are  you  not  willing,"  he 
asks,  "that  your  son  and  brother  should  go  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
and  proclaim  pardon  and  eternal  life  to  those  who  know  not  God 
and  are  trusting  to  their  idols?"  After  appealing  to  the  great  com- 
mission of  the  apostles  as  binding  on  all  ministers  of  Christ,  he  says, 
"There  are  parents,  who  through  divine  grace  can  rejoice  to  see 
their  sons  zealously  engaged  in  this  work.  O,  may  I  be  such  a  son, 
and  you  such  parents." 

Mr.  Hall,  with  his  colleagues,  received  ordination  at  Salem,  Feb- 
ruary 6,  1812.  Messrs  Judson  and  Newell  sailed  from  Salem  on  the 
9th,  and  Messrs.  Hall,  Nott  and  Rice  (more  recently  appointed,)  from 
Philadelphia,  on  the  18th  of  the  same  month.  Messrs.  Judson  and 
Newell  arrived  at  Calcutta  on  the  17th  of  June,  and  their  colleagues 
on  the  8th  of  August.  By  Christians  of  different  denominations 
they  were  received  with  kindness  and  affection,  but  the  British  East 
Indian  government  met  them  with  a  prompt  and  peremptory  repulse 
from  their  territories.  One  ground  on  which  this  act  was  ostensibly 
based,  was  the  fact  that  the  missionaries  were  not  English  subjects. 
The  real  motive  was  undoubtedly  the  same  that  had  dictated  their 
intolerance  of  the  Serampore  mission,  and  of  every  other  effort  to 
introduce  Christianity  among  the  natives  of  India.* 

The  first  order  commanded  the  missionaries  to  return  in  the  ves- 
sels that  brought  them,  but  they  were  afterwards  authorized  to  go, 
by  any  conveyance,  to  any  place  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  East 

*  To  an  American  gentleman,  who  spoke  of  the  duty  of  promoting  the  education 
of  the  Hindoos,  Lord  Wellesley,  now  duke  of  Wellington,  is  said  to  have  signifi- 
cantly replied,  that  Great  Britain  had  seen  enough  of  the  effects  of  that,  in  the  case 
of  the  North  American  colonies,  and  that  the  experiment  would  not  be  repeated. 


GORDON    HALL.  129 

India  Company.  It  was  not  easy  to  decide  where  they  should  go. 
The  Burman  empire  was  the  seat  of  war  that  agitated  all  the  neigh- 
bouring regions,  and  China  was  not  yet  opened.  They  learned  that 
the  governor  of  the  Isle  of  France,  now  more  generally  known  by 
its  older  Dutch  name,  Mauritius,  was  friendly  to  their  establishment 
on  that  island  and  in  Madagascar.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newell  embarked 
for  the  Isle  of  France  by  the  first  opportunity ;  their  associates  were 
delayed  two  or  three  months  at  Calcutta,  during  which  interval 
Messrs.  Judson  and  Rice  announced  a  change  of  views  on  the  sub- 
ject of  baptism,  which  separated  them  from  their  colleagues  and 
from  the  further  patronage  of  the  Board. 

Messrs.  Hall  and  Nott  had  engaged  their  passage  to  the  Isle  of 
France,  when  an  unexpected  detention  of  the  vessel  gave  them  an 
opportunity  to  reconsider  their  plans.  They  had  decided  to  go  to 
Ceylon,  but  news  of  the  arrival  of  Sir  Evan  Napean  as  governor  of 
Bombay  opened  a  better  prospect.  Sir  Evan  was  known  as  a  friend 
of  missions  and  a  Vice-President  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society.  They  were  promised  favourable  letters  to  several  gentle- 
men at  Bombay,  and  resolved  to  attempt  a  mission  there.  They 
received  a  general  passport  "to  depart  in  the  ship  Commerce." 
Before  they  could  get  their  baggage  on  board,  they  were  served  with 
an  order  for  their  being  sent  to  England.  After  an  unsuccessful 
attempt  to  bring  their  case  before  the  governor-general  in  person, 
they  obtained  leave  of  the  captain  of  the  Commerce  to  go  on  board 
and  wait  the  result.  He  reported  them  as  his  passengers,  obtained 
a  port  clearance,  and  on  the  11th  of  Februarj^,  1813,  they  landed 
safely  at  Bombay. 

Here  they  found  that  the  order  for  their  transportation  to  England 
had  been  forwarded  from  Calcutta.  They  submitted  a  memorial  to 
the  governor,  setting  forth  their  object  in  coming  to  India,  their 
proceedings  at  Calcutta,  and  their  reasons  for  departing  under  such 
circumstances.  With  this  he  was  so  well  pleased  that  he  wrote  to 
the  governor-general  in  favour  of  the  missionaries,  and  appears  to 
have  so  far  satisfied  his  mind  as  to  gain  permission  for  them  to 
reside  at  Bombay. 

At  this  juncture,  to  their  great  embarrassment,  came  the  news  of 
war  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States.  To  make  the 
matter  worse,  an  American  schooner  that  came  under  a  protection 
from  Admiral  Sir  John  Warren,  bringing  letters  and  supplies  for 
the  missionaries,  was  condemned  on  a  charo'e  of  havino^  forfeited  her 
9 


IGO  GORDON    HALL 

])rotection  by  cruising  on  the  coast  to  inform  other  American  vessels 
vjf  the  declaration  of  war.  Neither  the  Board  nor  the  missionaries 
liad  any  control  over  her,  and  they  could  not  be  justly  held  account- 
able for  the  conduct  of  her  officers.  But  the  government  professed, 
and  may  have  entertained,  suspicions  that  the  mission  was  connected 
with  some  political  design.  The  letters  and  supplies  brought  by  the 
condemned  vessel  were  forwarded  to  the  missionaries,  but  their 
longer  residence  in  the  British  dominions,  it  was  intimated,  was  not 
to  be  thought  of  Their  names  were  entered  as  passengers  for  Eng- 
land by  the  ship  Carmarthen.  They  addressed  a  remonstrance  to 
the  governor,  showing  that  their  errand  was  unconnected  with  the 
war,  or  with  the  political  relations  of  the  two  countries.  Sir  Evan 
consented  to  a  few  weeks'  delay  that  they  might  perfect  their 
arrangements,  but  stated  that  his  orders  from  Bengal  forbade  him  to 
permit  their  residence  at  Bombay. 

Communications  were  received  in  September  from  Mr.  Newell, 
then  on  the  island  of  Cejdon,  and  from  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson,  chap- 
lain at  Madras,  to  the  effect  that  the  governor  of  Ceylon  would  pro- 
tect them,  and  urging  them  to  repair  to  that  island.  These  were 
submitted  to  Sir  Evan  Napean,  with  a  request  for  permission  to  act 
upon  this  counsel.  They  were  informed  that  he  was  personally 
inclined  to  grant  the  request,  and  was  expecting  more  favourable 
orders  from  the  governor-general.  If  these  came  seasonably,  he 
might  accede  to  their  wishes,  but  if  not,  he  must  send  them  to  Eng- 
land by  the  first  ship.  The  time  for  the  sailing  of  the  Carmarthen 
was  now  near  at  hand ;  every  open  expedient  to  avoid  transporta- 
tion had  failed,  and  their  enterprise  appeared  to  be  completely 
frustrated. 

After  prayerful  consideration,  they  resolved  to  adopt  the  only 
alternative, — to  depart  without  the  knowledge  of  the  government 
beyond  its  jurisdiction.  That  their  friends  might  not  be  needlessly 
compromised,  they  confided  their  plan  to  only  a  single  person,  Lieu- 
tenant John  Wade,  a  young  officer  of  noble  descent,  and  at  that 
time  Military  aid  and  Secretary  to  the  commander-in-chief  on  the 
Bombay  station.  He  had  become  acquainted  with  them  early  in  the 
summer,  had  sought  their  aid  in  establishing  his  religious  principles, 
and  felt  profoundly  grateful  for  their  instruction  and  counsel.  He 
]5romptly  affered  his  aid.  On  the  18th  of  Octcjber  he  informed  them 
that  a  native  vessel  was  to  sail  for  Cochin,  and  thence,  it  was  under- 
stood, to  Columbo,  Ceylon,  which  would  take  them  as  passengers  if 


GORDON    HALL.  181 

they  could  be  ready  in  five  liours.  He  gave  them  a  note  of  intro- 
duction to  an  officer  at  Cochin,  which  proved  of  service  on  their 
arrival  there.  He  saw  them  safel}^  on  board,  and  after  their  depart- 
ure prepared  and  circulated  a  defence  of  their  conduct. 

"I  have  fears,"  Mr.  Hall  wrote  in  his  journal,  "lest  we  have  sin- 
ned in  leaving  Bombay  as  we  have. — Yet  after  all,"  he  added,  "I 
do  not  know  why  it  was  not  as  right  for  us  to  escape  from  Bombay, 
as  it  was  for  Paul  to  escape  from  Damascus."  Unfortunatel}^,  they 
did  not  meet  with  the  Apostle's  success,  and  had  to  deal  with  per- 
sons who  were  not  inclined  to  accept  the  analogy.  The  vessel  was 
bound  to  Cochin,  and  no  further;  the  crew  were  not  competent  to 
navigate  her  to  Ceylon,  had  they  been  so  disposed.  Lieut.  Wade's 
note  secured  them  very  courteous  treatment  during  their  detention, 
but  before  any  conveyance  to  Ceylon  presented  itself,  a  message 
came,  demanding  their  immediate  return  to  Bombay.  On  arriving 
there,  they  learned  that  the  governor  regarded  their  conduct  as 
inconsistent  with  their  character  as  gentlemen  and  ministers  of  the 
gospel.  He  treated  them,  in  fact,  somewhat  like  prisoners  who  had 
broken  their  parole.  They  were  informed  that  their  passage  to 
England  was  inevitable,  and  that  Mrs.  Nott  would  have  been  sent 
by  the  Carmarthen  if  her  health  had  admitted  of  it.  For  ten 
days  they  were  detained  on  board  the  Company's  cruiser  Ternate. 
From  their  prison-ship  they  sent  a  letter  to  the  governor,  vindi 
eating  their  course. 

Being  brought  to  the  police  office,  they  were  required  to  give  a 
bond,  with  security  in  four  thousand  rupees,  not  to  leave  Bombay 
without  permission.  This  they  declined  doing.  They  were  then 
asked  to  give  their  parole  to  the  same  effect,  which  was  declined, 
as  also  a  third  proposal,  to  give  their  parole  not  to  leave  without 
permission  before  the  following  Monday.  Thereupon  they  were 
remanded  on  board  the  Ternate.  The  next  day  they  were  again 
summoned,  and  informed  that  their  vindication  had  been  flivourably 
considered,  but  was  not  satisfactory.  They  were  assigned  quarters 
in  the  admiralty-house,  and  ordered  not  to  leave  the  island  without 
application  to  the  government,  and  to  be  ready  to  sail  for  England. 

But  their  deliverance  was  at  hand.  Lord  Moira,  appointed  to 
supersede  Lord  Minto  as  governor-general  of  India,  arrived  at 
Calcutta.  A  committee  in  that  city  for  cooperating  with  the  mis- 
sionaries made  representations  to  the  government  in  their  behalf, 
which  drew  from  Lord  Minto  the  admission  that  their  desio^ns  were 


132  GORDON    HALL, 

unexceptionable,  and  from  Lord  Moira  an  intimation  that  "no  con- 
ceivable public  injury  could  arise  from  their  staying,"  with  such 
further  declarations  as  seemed  to  assure  a  reversal  of  the  obnoxious 
orders.  Rev.  Mr.  Thomason,  of  Calcutta,  wrote  to  this  effect,  and 
his  letter  was  sent  to  Sir  Evan  Napean.  He  replied  that  as  his 
orders  were  peremptor}',  and  had  not  been  reversed,  he  should  put 
them  in  execution. 

On  the  20th  of  December,  Messrs.  Hall  and  Nott,  as  a  last  resort, 
addressed  a  bold  but  respectful  communication  to  the  governor,  in 
which  they  used  the  following  language:  "That  exercise  of  civil 
authority  which,  in  a  manner  so  conspicuous  and  determined,  is 
about  to  prohibit  two  ministers  of  Christ  from  preaching  his  gospel 
in  India,  can  be  of  no  ordinary  consequence;  especially  at  the  pres- 
ent moment,  when  the  Christian  public  in  England  and  America 
are  waiting  with  pious  solicitude  to  hear  how  the  religion  of  the 
Bible  is  welcomed  and  encouraged  among  the  pagans  of  this  coun- 
try. Our  cause  has  had  so  full  and  conspicuous  a  trial,  that  its  final 
decision  may  serve  as  a  specimen,  by  which  the  friends  of  religion 
may  learn  what  is  likely  to  befall,  in  India,  those  evangelical  mis- 
sions which  they  are  labouring  to  support  by  their  prayers  and 
their  substance."  After  making  a  solemn  appeal  to  his  conscience 
in  respect  to  the  moral  responsibility  of  thus  resisting  the  spread 
of  the  gospel,  they  remarked  on  the  degree  of  force  possessed  by  the 
orders  under  which  he  acted,  and  in  words  that  have  lost  none  of 
their  weight  by  the  lapse  of  time,  declared:  "Your  excellency 
knows  perfectly  well,  that  whenever  human  commands  run  counter  to 
the  divine  commands,  THEY  CEASE  TO  BECOME  OBLIGATORY ;  and  that 
no  man  can  aid  in  the  execution  or  support  of  such  counter  com- 
mands, without  aiming  violence  at  the  authority  of  Heaven."  They 
referred  to  the  information  recently  laid  before  him  of  a  favourable 
change  in  the  views  of  the  governor-general,  as  furnishing  sufficient 
ground  at  least  for  delay.  Entreating  him,  by  the  highest  motives 
of  personal  religious  duty,  to  forbear  from  the  decisive  act  which  he 
had  threatened,  they  thus  concluded: 

"By  all  the  dread  of  being  found  on  the  catalogue  of  those  who 
persecute  the  church  of  God  and  resist  the  salvation  of  men,  we 
entreat  your  excellency  not  to  oppose  the  prayers  and  efforts  of  the 
church,  by  sending  back  those  whom  the  church  has  sent  forth  in 
the  name  of  the  Lord  to  preach  his  gospel  among  the  heathen;  and 
we  earnestly  beseech  Almighty  God  to  prevent  such  an  act,  and 


GOEDON    HALL.  133 

now  and  ever  to  guide  your  excellency  in  tliat  way  which  shall  be 
most  pleasing  in  his  sight.  But  should  your  excellency  finally  dis- 
regard the  considerations  we  have  presented,  should  we  be  compelled 
to  leave  this  land,  we  can  only  say,  Adieu,  till  we  meet  you,  face  to 
face,  at  God's  tribunal." 

This  letter,  though  addressed  to  Sir  Evan  personally,  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  council,  and  on  the  22d  they  were  informed  that  the 
governor  and  council  had  decided  to  await  farther  instructions  from 
the  supreme  government.  Under  this  informal  and  provisional 
license,  the  missionaries  remained  several  months.  Their  flight  to 
Ceylon  had  been  arrested,  that  the  mission  to  Bombay  might  not  fiiil. 

A  mere  sufferance  in  India,  however,  was  not  a  sufficient  basis 
of  operations.  The  act  renewing  the  East  India  Company's  charter, 
passed  about  six  months  before,  provided  for  the  future  toleration 
of  missions,  but  no  provision  was  made  for  those  already  commenced, 
so  that  the  American  missionaries  were  in  fact  excluded  from  its 
benefits.  The  authorities  at  Calcutta  and  Bombay  had  transmitted 
to  the  Court  of  Directors  in  London,  an  account  of  the  transactions 
we  have  related,  with  copies  of  the  correspondence  that  had  passed. 
The  Directors  had  under  consideration  a  vote  of  censure  on  all 
officers  who  had  abetted  the  American  missionaries,  and  requiring 
their  removal  from  the  Company's  territories.  As  the  resolution 
was  about  to  pass,  the  venerable  Charles  Grant,  formerly  chairman 
of  the  court,  presented  a  written  argument,  proving  that  the  authori 
ties  in  India  had  assumed  powers  not  conferred  by  the  law  of  Eng- 
land or  of  nations.  The  argument  prevailed,  and  the  governor  of 
Bombay  was  informed  that  the  missionaries  were  allowed  to  remain. 
In  communicating  this  result  to  Mr.  Hall,  Sir  Evan  Napean  added, 
"I  can  now  assure  you  that  you  have  my  entire  permission  to  remain 
here,  so  long  as  you  conduct  3'ourselves  in  a  manner  agreeable  to 
your  office;  and  I  heartily  wish  you  success  in  your  work."  Con- 
tinental India  was  now  opened  to  Christian  missions  by  a  formal 
public  act,  to  which  the  firmness  of  the  American  Missionaries  had 
chiefly  contributed.  If  Mr.  Hall  had  accomplished  nothing  else,  his 
mission  would  not  have  been  vain. 

While  hindered  from  his  chosen  work  by  these  trials,  Mr.  Hall 
did  not  neglect  opportunities  of  usefulness  to  such  persons  as  were 
within  reach  of  his  influence.  Allusion  has  been  made  to  Lieut. 
Wade,  who  felt  himself  under  great  spiritual  obligations  to  the  mis- 
sionaries, and  the  force  of  whose  gratitude  was  shown  by  his  readi- 


134  GOKDON    HALL. 

ness  to  set  at  hazard  his  reputation  and  worldly  prospects  for  their 
benefit.  Two  other  officers  in  the  English  military  service  regarded 
Mr.  Hall  with  the  same  feeling,  for  the  same  cause.  Through  his 
influence,  they  were  led  not  only  to  a  hearty  reception  of  spiritual 
religion,  but  to  a  withdrawal  from  the  armj^  Mr.  Hall  was  a  con- 
sistent and  uncompromising  advocate  of  peace.  "x\s  to  war,"  he 
wrote  to  a  friend  in  America,  "you  may  mark  me  for  a  thorough 
Quaker."  To  one  of  the  officers  mentioned,  he  wrote:  "As  to  war 
and  violence,  in  every  shape,  I  am  as  confident  that  it  is  utterly 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  as  I  am  that  theft  or  any  otlier 
immorality  is  so."  In  another  letter  to  the  same,  he  says:  "You 
request  me  'to  search,  if  there  are  any  scriptural  proofs  in  favour  of 
war;'  I  would  as  soon  look  for  proof  that  men  may  lie  one  to  another 
as  that  they  may  slaughter  one  another."  And  in  reference  to 
delaying,  for  prudential  reasons,  the  resignation  of  his  commission, 
Mr.  Hall  wrote:  "If  your  profession  in  the  army  is  incompatible 
with  your  duty  as  a  Christian,  it  can  be  no  less  sinful  for  you  to 
continue  in  that  profession  for  a  moment,  either  on  board  ship  or  in 
Englaiad,  than  here."  Those  who  do  not  consider  this  view  of  the 
military  profession  a  sound  one,  will  yet  honour  the  spirit  with 
which  the  faithful  missionary  carried  out  his  sincere  convictions  to 
their  proper  result,  and  held  them  up  in  logical  thoroughness  and 
completeness. 

His  letters  to  friends  in  America  at  this  time  glow  with  missionary 
zeal,  and  show,  moreover,  that  he  did  not  enter  on  his  work  without 
maturely  considering  its  nature  and  the  proper  means  of  success. 
"Eighteen  hundred  years  ago,"  he  says,  "it  was  solemnly  com- 
manded by  Jesus  Christ  that  his  gospel  should  be  preached  to  every 
creature,  but  now  the  British  Parliament  is  debating  whether  it  may 
or  not  be  published  to  sixty  millions  of  their  heathen  subjects  in 
Asia."  With  respect  to  details  of  oriental  life  and  manners,  he 
remarks:  "It  matters  little  whether  a  man's  hair  trails  on  the  ground, 
like  the  Chinese,  or  whether  like  the  Hindoos  it  is  shorn  as  close  as 
an  Englishman's  face, — whether  he  lives  in  a  bamboo  or  log  hut, — 
on  a  plain  or  a  mountain, — whether  his  language  is  refined  or  bar- 
barous,— or  what  are  the  personal  qualities  of  the  multitudes  of 
gods  which  crowd  the  Hindoo  pantheon;  a  thousand  things  of  this 
kind  may  be  interesting  and  amusing  to  the  curious,  but  they  are 
not  the  things  which  Christians  need  to  excite  them  to  action  in  dis- 
seminating the  gospel.     The  facts  \n  hich  the  Christian  needs  are  few 


GORDON    HALL.  135 

and  simple.  The  world  is  full  of  heathen.  Christ  died  for  them  all. 
The  gospel  must  he  preached  to  them.''^  Respecting  the  relative  value 
of  translations,  as  means  of  conversion,  he  says:  "Many  seem  to 
suppose  that  if  the  Bible  were  only  scattered  among  the  nations, 
the  work  of  conversion  would  follow  of  course. — The  fact  is,  that 
in  the  economy  of  human  salvation,  the  living  preacher  holds  the 
most  prominent  instrumentality."  And  again:  "I  should  think  that 
the  sentiment  is  stealing  upon  the  minds  of  many,  that  Bibles  alone  will 
convert  the  world.  This  sentiment  is  as  absurd  as  it  would  be  to 
toss  a  sickle  into  a  field  of  grain,  and  leave  it  unwielded,  to  gather 
the  harvest.  Do  not  understand  me  to  say  aught  against  the  sickle; 
were  it  in  my  power,  I  would  multiply  it  a  thousand  fold.  But  what 
I  mean  is,  that  there  should  be  a  due  proportion  observed  in  send- 
ing forth  preachers  and  in  multiplying  translations  of  the  Bible." 

There  may  be  those  to  whom  these  sentiments  will  appear  like  an 
undue  magnif3dng  of  his  office  as  a  minister,  but  we  are  mistaken  if 
the  records  of  missionary  effort  for  the  last  fift}^  years  do  not  fully 
confirm  his  views  on  this  point.  The  instruments  employed  must 
be  various,  for  the  end  sought  is  a  complex  one,  but  there  is  an 
order  and  proportion  to  be  observed  in  their  application.  We  shall 
see  that  Mr.  Hall,  though  decided,  was  not  exclusive,  in  his  views. 

The  way  having  been  opened  for  free  entrance  on  their  appropri- 
ate work,  the  missionaries  were  diligent  in  preparing  for  it.  For 
several  months,  indeed,  before  the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Directors 
in  London  was  known,  they  were  kept  under  restraint,  and  compelled 
to  reside  in  the  admiralty -house,  where  they  preached  in  English, 
and  also  at  another  place  in  the  town.  In  the  course  of  the  3' ear  they 
opened  a  school.  Their  attention  was  likewise  given  to  acquiring); 
the  languages  of  the  country.  But  in  due  time  they  were  set  at  lib 
ert}' .  The  force  engaged  at  Bombay  consisted  of  Messrs.  Hall  and 
Nott,  soon  after  joined  by  Mr.  Newell,  who  was  then  in  Ceylon. 
An  arduous  task  was  before  them.  In  the  part  of  India  which  was 
the  scene  of  their  labours,  the  attachment  of  the  people  to  their 
ancient  faith  is  peculiarly  strong,  and  as  a  field  of  missions  it  yields 
to  few  in  point  of  difficulty.  There  lay  before  them  nothing  but 
severe  and  continuous  toil,  relieved  by  scarcely  a  gleam  of  success. 
No  surprising  incidents,  no  romantic  adventures,  no  marvellous 
achievements,  enliven  the  record.  From  this  time  to  the  day  of 
his  death,  it  was  the  lot  of  Mr.  Hall  to  expend  his  strength  in  one 


136  GOIIDON     HALL. 

continuous  struggle  against  a  power  that  frowned  sullen  defiance  on 
his  efforts,  without  any  prospect  of  immediate  reward,  but  in  the  full 
assurance  that  not  a  word  spoken  for  his  Lord  would  be  lost.  It  is 
an  impressive  spectacle,  and  the  firmness  with  which  his  spirit  bore 
up  against  discouragement,  drawing  from  the  obstacles  he  encoun- 
tered only  arguments  for  greater  exertion,  give  to  his  character  an 
aspect  of  moral  sublimity. 

Bombay  is  situated  on  an  island  off  the  western  coast  of  peninsu- 
lar India,  near  its  northern  extremity,  separated  by  narrow  straits 
from  the  continent  on  the  east  and  from  the  island  of  Salsette  on 
the  north.  The  range  of  mountains  called  the  Ghauts,  rising  to  the 
height  of  two  thousand  feet,  runs  near  the  coast,  leaving  a  strip  of 
flat  or  broken  country  called  the  Concan,  from  forty  to  a  hundred 
miles  wide  and  about  three  hundred  miles  long.  Eastward,  from  the 
Ghauts  toward  the  Bay  of  Bengal,  and  southward,  from  the  river 
Nerbudha  to  Cape  Comorin,  stretches  the  vast  region  known  as  the 
Deccan.  This  was  overrun  by  the  Mahrattas,  originally  an  obscure 
piratical  race,  early  in  the  eighteenth  century.  For  about  a  hundred 
years  they  ruled  and  ravaged  a  large  part  of  India;  when  their 
power  declined,  and  was  gradually  absorbed  by  the  British.  Their 
population  is  estimated  at  about  twelve  millions. 

The  Mahratta  language  was  Mr.  Hairs  more  especial  study.  Few 
facilities  existed  for  its  acquisition,  but  by  diligent  exertion  he  was 
able  to  employ  it  as  a  vehicle  for  religious  instruction  as  early  as 
the  commencement  of  1815,  less  than  two  years  after  his  arrival. 
In  the  course  of  that  year  he  translated  most  of  the  Gospel  of  Mat- 
thew, and  prepared  a  harmony  of  the  gospels  and  a  small  tract.  He 
knew  that  his  translations  were  far  from  perfect,  but  found  them 
useful,  both  in  imparting  a  knowledge  of  scriptural  truth,  and  (by 
the  comments  they  called  forth  from  his  hearers)  in  correcting  mis- 
takes, and  thus  increasing  his  familiarity  with  the  language.  The 
process  of  spreading  Christian  truth  was  a  difficult  one.  The  mis- 
sionaries could  have  no  stated  congregation,  for  there  was  not  curi- 
osity enough  to  convene  one.  There  were  no  inquirers,  for  the  like 
reason.  As  people  would  not  come  to  them,  they  had  to  go  to  the 
people.  At  temples,  markets  and  other  places  of  public  resort,  they 
could  collect  little  groups  of  hearers,  and  address  them  briefly,  read- 
ing passages  of  Scripture,  and  explaining  the  truths  they  contained. 

As  auxiliary  to  these  labours,  something  could  be  done  by  the 
agency  of  free  schools.     Common  school  education  is  no  monopoly 


GORDON    HALL.  137 

of  western  civilization.  Long  ago,  in  the  villages  and  hamlets  of 
Hindostan,  the  teacher  was  honoured  and  his  services  esteemed; 
reading  and  writing  were  accomplishments  very  generally  acquired 
there,  except  by  those  whose  extreme  poverty  refused  them  the 
scantiest  leisure  for  study.  But  in  western  and  southern  India,  the 
ravages  of  war  and  the  more  exhausting,  because  perpetual,  mischiefs 
of  bad  government,  had  so  impoverished  the  country,  that  education 
was  fallen  into  decay.*  The  people  were  ready  to  welcome  schools, 
which  might  impart  some  wholesome  moral  instruction  to  the 
young.  True,  the  missionaries  could  not  give  their  own  time  to 
them,  and  must  choose  between  heathen,  Mohammedan  and  Jewish 
teachers;  but  they  could  direct  what  books  should  be  used,  and  by 
frequent  examinations  ascertain  that  they  were  faithfully  taught. 
The  school  also  became  a  nucleus  for  gathering  larger  and  more 
regular  congregations  than  could  otherwise  be  brought  within  the 
scope  of  their  preaching. 

From  the  journal  of  a  week's  itinerant  labours  in  the  autumn  of 
1815,  a  few  liints  may  be  gathered  to  show  the  methods  adopted  by 
Mr.  Hall  to  bring  the  object  of  his  mission  before  the  people.  On 
Sunday  morning  he  "spoke  in  four  different  places  to  about  seventy 
persons."  In  the  afternoon  "spoke  in  another  place  to  about  twenty  ; 
also  in  four  other  places."  At  Momadave,  "held  a  long  discussion 
with  some  brahmins  in  the  midst  of  sixty  or  seventy  people.  As  I 
came  away,  a  brahmin  told  me  that  there  was  no  one  there  who 
could  make  a  proper  reply  to  what  I  had  said."  He  addressed  in 
all  about  two  hundred.  On  Monday,  "spoke  in  six  different  places, 
and  in  all  to  more  than  one  hundred.  At  one  place  I  fell  in  with 
some  Mussulmans."  After  some  discussion,  a  Jew  interposed,  and 
he  left  them  disputing  together.  "It  is  one  part  of  a  missionary's 
trials,"  he  notes,  "rightly  to  bear  the  impertinence,  contradictions, 
insolence  and  reproaches  of  men,  who  are  sunk  to  the  lowest  degra- 
dation."    On  Tuesday  "spoke  in  several  places  to  about  one  hundred 

*  "The,  wealth  of  the  Indies"  is  still  a  popular  expression  to  denote  unlimited 
riches,  but  as  applied  to  the  East  Indies,  if  it  ever  had  a  ground  in  truth,  which  may 
be  doubted,  it  must  have  been  long  before  the  British  dominion  was  founded  in 
Bengal.  India  was  then  a  miserably  poor  country,  if  wealth  is  to  be  measured  by 
any  rule  of  proportion  to  the  number  of  inhabitants.  There  were  a  few  who  rolled 
in  wealth  gained  by  extortion,  but  the  multitude  were,  and  are  now,  below  the  poor- 
est peasantry  in  Europe  in  point  of  physical  comfort,  except  as  the  nature  of  the 
climite  may  be  supposed  to  diminish  the  number  of  artificial  wants. 


138  GORDON     HALL, 

persons.  Six  or  eiglit  of  them  were  Jews.  At  one  place  addressed 
a  considerable  number  in  front  of  a  large  temple. — Some  agitation 
arose  among  the  people,  and  one  or  two  cried  out,  'Come  awaj  from 
him,  come  away.'  But  the  greater  part  were  disposed  to  remain  and 
listen  to  the  word.  I  view  it  as  an  encouragement."  On  Wednes- 
day "walked  out  as  usual  at  four  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  spoke  to  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty  people."  On  Thursday  he  addressed,  in 
five  or  six  places,  about  one  hundred  heathen,  and  rendered  medical 
aid  to  a  woman;  on  Friday  spoke  to  more  than  a  hundred  people, 
and  spent  an  hour  in  the  evening  at  the  house  of  a  heathen,  reading 
and  explaining  a  tract  to  a  small  company.  He  writes  on  Saturday: 
"This  day  addressed  about  seventy  persons,  and  in  the  course  of 
the  past  week  have  spoken  to  more  than  eight  hundred  persons. 
Blessed  be  God  for  the  privilege!  I  have  noticed  a  few  persons 
who  seemed  desirous  to  hear  all  I  had  to  say;  so  much  so,  that  they 
have  been  constant  at  the  stated  place  to  which  I  have  daily  repaired, 
and  some  have  even  followed  me  from  one  place  to  another.  But, 
alas!  when  I  fix  my  eyes  only  on  the  people,  all  is  dark  as  night; 
but  whenever,  by  faith,  I  am  enabled  to  look  to  the  Son  of  Eight- 
eousness,  all  is  light  as  noon.  How  great,  how  precious  are  the 
promises!     Blessed  is  he  that  can  trust  in  them!" 

The  "  stated  place,"  alluded  to,  was  a  temple  much  frequented  by 
the  people.  In  the  precincts  of  those  centres  of  idolatry  it  is  gen- 
erally easy  to  obtain  auditors  for  any  purpose.  There  the  people 
resort,  not  only  for  worship,  but  to  hear  the  brahmins  read  and 
expound  the  Shasters,  or  to  spend  an  hour  in  idleness.  For  a  mis- 
sionary to  enter  the  temple  would  be  an  affront,  but  undei'  the  shade 
of  trees  planted  around,  a  company  is  easily  gathered  to  listen  to 
his  instructions.  Mr.  Hall  made  an  exact  distribution  of  his  time, 
spending  certain  hours  in  study  and  translation,  reserving  about 
three  hours  daily  for  the  labours  above  described. 

Toward  the  close  of  this  year  the  health  of  Mr.  Nott  required  his 
relinquishment  of  missionary  labour,  and  return  to  the  United  States, 
leaving  Messrs.  Hall  and  Newell  to  the  single-hand  prosecution  of  a 
work  that  might  well  have  tasked  scores  of  industrious  men.  About 
this  time  they  jointly  wrote  a  tract,  entitled  "The  Conversion  of  the 
"World,"  which  passed  through  two  or  three  large  editions  in  this 
country,  and  was  reprinted  in  England.  It  did  much  to  deepen  and 
extend  the  missionary  spirit.  During  the  following  year,  as  the 
language  became  more  familiar,  the  labours  of  the  mission  were 


GORDON    HALL,  189 

extended.  Several  books  of  the  New-Testament  were  translated 
and  some  Mabratta  tracts  prepared.  The  transfer  from  Ceylon  to 
Bombay  of  Mr.  Bardwell,  who  added  a  knowledge  of  the  printing 
art  to  other  qualifications,  and  the  purchase  of  a  press  and  types, 
enabled  them  to  put  these  and  other  works  into  circulation.  In 
December,  1816,  Mr.  Hall  was  married  to  Miss  Margaret  Lewis,  an 
English  lady  resident  in  the  country,  whose  piet}^,  familiarity  with 
the  native  character,  and  acquaintance  with  the  Hindoostani language, 
made  her  a  valuable  helper. 

Mr.  Hall  felt  a  lively  interest  in  the  Society  of  Inquiry  in  Andover 
Theological  Seminary,  of  which  he  was  an  original  member,  and 
from  time  to  time  corresponded  with  it.  In  an  energetic  appeal  on 
the  duty  and  the  means  of  the  universal  diffusion  of  Christianity, 
he  wrote:  "When  I  advance  any  of  the  arguments  which  show  that 
Christians  ought  immediately  to  use  the  proper,  the  adequate  means 
for  evangelizing  the  whole  world,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  every 
individual,  without  exception,  to  exert  himself  with  zeal,  activity  and 
faith  proportionate  to  the  magnitude  of  the  work;  every  argument 
and  motive  seems  like  telling  those  to  whom  I  write,  that  they  need 
to  be  convinced  that  the  Son  of  God  has  died  for  sinners,  that  there 
is  salvation  in  no  other,  and  that  the,  salvation  of  souls  is  of  great 
importance.  In  a  word,  it  seems  like  telling  them  that  they  are  not 
Christians. — How  can  Ms  heart  be  like  that  of  Jesus,  how  can  he 
be  a  Christian,  who  does  not  love  all  mankind,  with  a  love  which 
makes  him  willing  to  suffer  the  loss  of  all  temporal  things,  and  even 
to  lay  down  his  life,  if  thereby  he  can  promote  the  salvation  of  his 
fellow-men  ?" 

In  another  communication  he  thus  expressed  himself  on  the  ques- 
tion of  personal  duty:  "To  me  it  appears  unaccountable  how  so 
many  young  men,  by  covenant  devoted  to  Christ,  can  deliberately 
and  prayerfully  inquire  whether  it  is  their  duty  to  become  mission- 
aries, and  3'et  so  few  feel  effectually  persuaded  that  it  is  their  duty 
to  come  forth  to  the  heathen!  It  tends  greatly  to  the  discourage- 
ment of  those  already  in  the  field.  While  so  great  a  proportion  of 
those  who  examine  this  point  of  duty,  deliberately  decide  that  it  is 
not  their  duty  to  engage  in  the  missionary  work,  what  are  we  to  think? 
In  general,  those  who  excuse  themselves  from  the  work,  must  do  it 
for  general  reasons,  which  would  be  as  applicable  to  others  as  to 
themselves,  and  wdiich  would  excuse  those  who  have  gone  forth  to  the 
^vork  as  well  as  themselves.     Therefore,  must  not  those  men  who 


140  GORDON    HALL. 

thus  excuse  themselves,  think  either  that  those  who  engage  in  the 
missionary  work  do  wrong,  or  that  themselves  who  decline  it 
do  wrong?" 

To  the  objection  that  if  all  candidates  for  the  ministry  chose  for- 
eign service,  our  own  country  would  be  impoverished,  he  replies: 
"When  thousands  have  gone  forth  to  the  heathen,  and  God  has 
failed  to  fulfil  his  promise,  '  He  that  watereth  shall  be  watered  also 
himself,'  or  when  he  shall  not  have  caused  religion  to  flourish  among 
the  people  at  home,  in  proportion  as  they  labour  for  the  heathen 
abroad,  then,  and  not  till  then,  let  the  objection  be  heard." 

In  1817  the  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  and 
a  tract  of  eight  pages  were  printed.  Two  hundred  and  fift}^  pupils 
were  under  instruction  in  the  mission  schools,  and  the  publication 
of  these  works  furnished  the  means  of  improving  the  course  of 
instruction.  Early  in  1818  two  new  missionaries  were  added  to  the 
station.  The  number  of  schools  was  increased  to  eleven,  with  six 
hundred  regular  attendants,  while  the  use  of  printed  text  books 
was,  even  to  the  minds  of  the  heathen,  so  manifest  an  improvement, 
that  the  books  of  the  mission  were  introduced  into  native  schools 
in  the  interior. 

Regular  preaching  to  a  small  congregation  of  natives  in  Bombay 
was  commenced  in  1819,  under  circumstances  of  encouragement. 
Early  in  this  year  Mr.  Hall  was  able  to  chronicle  the  gathering  of 
the  first  mature  fruit  of  his  labours.  "We  have  recently  baptized," 
he  says,  in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  "and  received  into  our  church,  one 
man  who  was  before  a  disciple  of  Mohammed.  He  is,  so  far  as  we 
can  judge,  a  consistent  Christian  and  a  helper  in  publishing  the  gos- 
pel." This  was  Kader  Yar  Khan,  a  merchant  from  Hydrabad  in 
Golconda,  four  hundred  miles  from  Bombay.  While  at  Bombay 
on  business,  the  reading  of  a  Christian  tract  made  a  decisive  impres- 
sion on  his  mind.  He  returned  home,  put  his  whole  business  into 
the  care  of  an  agent,  and  repaired  to  Bombay,  where  he  lived  in 
retirement,  and  gave  the  subject  his  undivided  attention.  The  study 
of  Henry  Martyn's  Persian  Testament,  and  other  Christian  books, 
convinced  his  understanding,  and  in  a  few  months  he  gave  satisfac- 
tory evidence  of  piety. 

The  interest  in  preaching  at  Bombay  so  far  increased  that  it  was 
found  practicable  to  collect  congregations  several  evenings  in  the 
week.  The  new  governor,  the  Hon.  M.  Elphinstone,  threw  some 
obstructions  in  the  way  of  itineracy,  but  these  were  soon  removed. 


GORDON    HALL.  141 

The  number  of  schools  increased  to  twentj-one,  with  one  thousand 
and  fifty  schohars.  But  a  series  of  afflictions— the  removal  of 
labourers  by  sickness  and  death,  and  the  abridgment  of  their  efforts 
by  a  deficiency  of  fands,  depressed  the  mission. 

In  1825  Mr.  Hall  was  called  to  separate  from  his  family,  as  he 
supposed,  for  a  year  or  two,  but,  as  it  was  providentially  determined, 
finally.  His  two  children  were  sickly,  and  there  was  little  prospect 
of  their  attaining  to  sound  health  in  that  climate.  It  was  decided 
that  Mrs.  Hall  should  go  with  them  to  America,  with  the  view  of 
returning  as  soon  as  they  could  be  provided  with  a  suitable  home. 
The  separation,  though  needful,  was  a  painful  one.  Mrs.  Hall 
entreated  her  husband  to  accompany  them.  "Do  you  know  what 
you  ask?"  he  replied.  "I  am  in  good  health;  I  am  able  to  preach 
Christ  to  the  perishing  souls  around  me.  Do  you  think  I  should 
leave  my  Master's  work,  and  go  with  you  to  America?  Go,  then, 
with  our  sick  boys.  I  will  remain  and  pray  for  you  all,  and  here 
labour  in  our  Master's  cause;  and  let  us  hope  God  will  bless  the 
means  used  to  preserve  the  lives  of  our  dear  children."  "From  that 
time,"  says  Mrs.  Hall,  "I  ceased  asking  him  to  accompany  us." 
The  mother  and  children,  with  heavy  hearts,  yet  scarcely  foreboding 
the  issue,  bade  adieu  to  the  husband  and  father.  They  were  at  first 
so  prospered  on  their  voyage  that  their  hopes  were  high,  but  before 
its  conclusion  the  eldest  child  was  suddenly  smitten  by  death,  and 
found  a  grave  in  the  ocean. 

The  formation  of  the  Bombay  Missionary  Union,  in  November 
of  this  year,  was  an  event  of  peculiar  interest  to  Mr.  Hall,  as  con- 
trasted with  the  long  struggle  through  which  he  had  to  pass  before 
he  was  granted  the  privilege  of  preaching  to  the  heathen.  The 
society  was  formed  by  the  missions  of  the  American  Board  and  of 
the  English  Church  Missionary  Society  at  Bombay,  those  of  the 
London  Missionary  Society  at  Surat  and  Belgaum,  and  that  of  the 
Scottish  Missionary  Society  in  the  southern  Concan.  On  tiiis  occa- 
sion Mr.  Hall  preached  a  sermon,  which  was  published.  To  add  to 
the  joy  of  their  meeting,  four  natives  were  received  to  the  fellowship 
of  the  church. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Mr.  Hall  at  this  time  had  any  presentiment 
that  his  labours  were  drawing  to  a  close,  but  he  gave  himself  with 
more  than  ordinary  earnestness  to  his  work.  "That  the  truth  of 
God  is  afiecting  the  minds  of  this  people  to  a  considerable  extent," 
he  wrote  in  January,  182'3,  "there  can  be  no  doubt.     I  trust  that 


142  GORDON     HALL. 

bj  and  by  righteousness  and  salvation  will  spring  up  amidst  this 
prevailing  sin  and  death.  I  never  felt  more  encouragement  and 
satisfaction  in  my  work  than  at  present."  About  the  first  of  Febru- 
ary he  wrote  a  letter  which  was  printed  as  a  circular, — a  fervent 
appeal  to  his  fellow-Christians  in  America  on  behalf  of  the  heathen. 
It  came  to  this  country  with  the  tidings  that  it  was  his  final  message, 
— a  summons  from  one  who  was  already  on  high.  It  should  seem 
that  words  like  those  hardly  needed  such  affecting  attestation  to 
make  them  pierce  the  bosom  of  the  churches.  Beginning  at  Bombay 
he  traced  the  circuit  of  India,  then  pointed  eastward  and  northward 
through  Asia,  and  southward  through  Africa  and  the  islands  of  the 
sea,  detecting  only  here  and  there  a  solitary  station  whence  the  light 
of  truth  broke  the  dense  gloom  of  heathenism.  Since  that  day  much 
has  been  observed  over  which  angels  in  heaven  and  good  men  on 
earth  may  rejoice,  yet  on  how  large  a  surface  does  the  pall  of  dark- 
ness still  rest!  How  little,  after  more  than  twenty  j^ears'  exertion, 
can  be  deducted  from  the  sum  of  desolation  then  disclosed ! 

From  this  wide  survey  he  recalled  attention  to  the  Mahrattas, 
numbering  twelve  millions,  with  only  six  Christian  missioiiaries, 
or  one  missionary  to  two  millions  of  souls.  "I  will  endeavour,"  he 
concluded,  "as  God  shall  enable  me,  so  to  labour  here  that  the  blood 
of  these  souls  shall  not  be  found  in  my  skirts,"  —  to  proclaim  their 
wants  "so  plainly  and  so  full}^  that  if  the  guilt  of  neglecting  their 
salvation  must  lodge  anywhere,  I  may  be  able  to  shake  it  from  my 
garments." 

On  the  second  of  March  Mr.  Hall  set  out  upon  a  tour  on  the  con- 
tinent of  over  one  hundred  miles,  to  Nassick.  He  arrived  there  on 
the  11th ;  the  cholera  was  raging  and  the  people  were  in  consterna- 
tion. Two  hundred,  or  more,  died  the  day  after  his  arrival.  He 
laboured  among  them  till  his  books  and  medicine  were  nearly 
exhausted,  and  on  the  18th  set  out  to  return  home.  He  arrived  the 
next  day  at  Doorlee  Dhapoor,  about  thirty  miles  on  his  wa}'.  He 
spread  his  mat  on  the  verandah  of  a  temple,  and  lay  down  to  sleep. 
Finding  himself  cold,  he  removed  to  a  warmer  place,  but  discovered 
that  it  was  occupied  by  two  sick  persons,  and  returned  to  the  veran- 
dah. About  four  o'clock  he  called  up  his  attendants,  and  made 
preparations  to  resume  his  journey,  when  he  was  seized  with  the 
cholera.  The  spasms  were  so  violent  that  he  fell  helpless  on  the 
ground.  Being  laid  on  his  mat,  he  took  the  small  quantity  of  medi- 
'^■'•■'e  lie  had  left,  but  his  stomach  rejected  it.     He  at  once  foresaw 


GORDON    HALL.  143 

tlie  result,  and  told  his  attendants  that  lie  would  not  recover.  After 
giving  directions  for  the  disposal  of  his  body  and  such  personal 
effects  as  he  had  with  him,  he  devoted  his  few  remaining  hours  of 
weakness,  as  he  had  done  his  hours  of  strength,  to  the  work  of  his 
ministry.  He  assured  the  natives  that  he  should  soon  be  with 
Christ.  He  exhorted  them  to  repent  and  turn  from  their  idols,  that 
they  might  also  go  to  heaven.  He  prayed  fervently  for  his  wife 
and  children,  for  his  missionary  associates  and  for  the  heathen  around 
him.  So  passed  away  eight  hours  of  agony.  Then  he  exclaimed 
three  times,  "Glory  to  thee,  O  God!"  and  expired.  The  lads 
who  were  with  him  with  difficulty  procured  a  grave,  in  which  they 
laid  his  body,  uncofl&ned,  to  await  the  resurrection.  The  place  of 
his  burial  is  marked  by  a  stone  monument,  bearing  in  English  and 
Mahratta  his  name,  office,  and  the  date  of  his  decease. 

The  name  of  Gordon  Hall  is  embalmed  with  no  trophies  of 
ordinary  distinction.  His  is  not  the  praise  of  profound  erudition, 
or  enchanting  eloquence,  or  dazzling  achievement.  With  a  mind 
and  character  that,  under  other  influences  than  those  to  which  he 
surrendered  his  powers,  might  have  won  for  himself  such  memorials, 
he  sought  them  not.  His  intellect  was  strong,  his  judgment  sound 
and  sober,  his  decision  firm,  not  to  be  lightly  shaken.  Simple, 
unostentatious,  single-minded,  he  was  equal  to  any  effort  or  any 
sacrifice,  and  he  could  afford  to  make  sacrifices  without  shrinking 
or  boasting.  The  career  he  would  have  run,  had  he  possessed  no 
ends  higher  than  ordinary  selfishness  proposes,  may  be  imagined, 
but  happily  for  himself  and  the  world,  all  that  was  admirable  in  his 
powers  and  auspicious  in  his  prospects  became  tributary,  by  his 
voluntary  consecration,  to  the  divine  glory  and  to  the  highest  wel- 
fare of  man. 

Even  in  the  pursuit  he  entered,  no  startling  results  gave  visible 
splendour  to  his  life, — no  crowds  of  converted  heathen  lamented  his 
loss,  no  flourishing  churches  hallowed  his  memory.  But  he  did  a 
work  that  included  the  complete  results  of  the  labours  of  many  men 
through  many  years.  He  kindled  the  flame  of  missionary  zeal  in 
the  breasts  of  thousands,  and  the  light  of  his  example  cheered  them 
on  in  the  great  enterprise.  For  this  he  sacrificed  ease  and  enjoy- 
ment, eager  hopes,  and  high  expectations  of  honour  and  usefulness 
at  home.  His  indomitable  spirit  surmounted  obstacles  that  would 
have  repelled  common  energies,  and  forced  a  passage  into  India. 
Thrice  would  the  mission  have  been  baffled  but  for  his  calm  and 


144  GOEDON    HALL. 

resolute  purpose.  For  all  that  has  been,  and  all  that  is  yet  to  be, 
accomplished  through  that  mission,  India  will  have  occasion  to  ylo- 
■^ify  God  on  his  hehalf.  He  shall  partake  of  the  honour,  for  they  who 
reap  in  joy  follow  the  furrows  which  he  sowed  in  tears. 


SAMUEL    NEWELL. 


The  missionary  career  of  Samuel  Newell,  though  comparatively 
brief,  was  sufficiently  extended  to  present  an  unusual  example  of 
youthful  enterprise,  such  as  mankind  have  viewed  with  no  little 
admiration  in  those  who  rise  from  obscurity  to  worldly  eminence, 
lie  was  born  at  Durham,  Maine,  July  24,  1784,  the  youngest  of  nine 
children.  He  lost  his  mother  in  his  third  year,  and  his  father  at 
the  age  of  ten.  When  fourteen  years  old  he  felt  a  curiosity  to  see 
more  of  the  world,  and  with  the  consent  of  his  friends,  set  out  on 
foot  for  Portland,  a  distance  of  twenty-six  miles.  The  novel  sights 
of  the  town  attracted  his  admiration.  The  vessels  in  the  harbour 
more  especially  excited  his  attention.  As  he  was  carefully  observ- 
ing one  of  these  "odd  machines,"  the  captain  was  struck  with  his 
appearance,  and  hailed  him  with  the  question,  "What  is  your  name, 
my  boy?"  Samuel  made  a  civil  reply.  "What  do  you  want?' 
"To  seek  my  fortune."  "Well,  I  sail  to-morrow  for  Boston;  how 
would  you  like  to  try  your  luck  with  me?"  He  was  delighted  at 
the  proposal  of  so  fine  an  adventure,  and  readily  assented. 

Arrived  at  Boston,  the  captain  met  Judge  Lowell,*  who  wished 
to  obtain  the  services  of  a  boy  in  his  family.  Young  Newell  was 
named  to  him.  His  pleasing  appearance  recommended  him  to  the 
judge,  who  took  him  to  his  residence  at  Koxbury,  and  treated  him 
with  uniform  kindness  till  his  death  in  1802. 

In  the  year  1800  he  went  into  the  service  of  Mr.  Ealph  Smith,  of 
Roxbury,  with  the  usual  proviso  of  three  months'  attendance  at 
school.  It  was  soon  apparent  that  Samuel  was  not  disposed  to  limit 
his  acquisitions  of  knowledge  within  the  amount  stipulated  in  the 
contract.  He  was  often  discovered  busy  over  a  book  when  he  ought 
to  have  been  at  work  with  his  hands.  Remonstrance  was  ineflfectuah 
In  the  course  of  the  following  year  Mr.  Smith  went  to  Dr.  Nathan- 
iel S.  Prentiss,  the  master  of  the  Roxbury  Grammar  School,  and 
told  him  he  had  a  boy  living  with  him  that  he  was  disposed  to  put 

*  Father  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Lowell,  now  of  Boston. 

10 


146  SAMUEL    NEWELL. 

under  liis  cliarge,  as  lie  was  so  fond  of  books  he  feared  lie  would  be 
good  for  nothing  else.  Dr.  Prentiss  expressed  a  readiness  to  do 
what  he  could  with  him,  and  Samuel  was  duly  entered  as  a  scholar. 
Though  able  to  read  very  well,  he  could  scarcely  write  his  name. 

A  week  or  two  after  he  commenced  his  attendance,  he  staid  in  the 
school-room  till  the  other  scholars  had  gone,  and  stepped  timidly 
up  to  the  preceptor's  desk  with  the  question:  "Sir,  do  you  know 
any  Avay  that  a  poor  boy  can  get  an  education?"  "Why,"  replied 
his  teacher,  "all  things  are  possible  to  one  who  is  diligent  and  per- 
severing. Do  you  wish  to  get  an  education?"  "Yes,  sir."  "But 
can  you  persevere?"  and  the  teacher  went  on  to  warn  him  of  the 
greatness  of  the  task;  that  it  would  require  courage  and  patience 
and  effort,  to  overcome  all  the  difficulties  in  his  way ;  and  he  advised 
him  to  count  the  cost  carefully  before  he  decided.  A  week  later 
he  came  again,  and  said  he  still  desired  an  education.  "You  think 
you  can  persevere?"  "I  will  try;  for  I  cannot  bear  to  live  and  die 
in  ignorance."  "  Very  well,"  said  his  preceptor ;  nothing  that  I  can  do 
for  you  shall  be  wanting.- — But  remember,  now,  you  shall  not  give 
up.  If  you  once  begin,  I'll  hear  nothing  of  leaving  off.  You  put 
your  hand  to  the  plough,  and  must  not  look  back."  Samuel  procured 
an  "accidence,"  and  commenced  Latin.  He  went  courageously  for- 
ward, but  not  long  after  became  discouraged,  and  made  a  halt.  lie 
said  he  feared  he  could  never  learn  Latin.  The  "comparison  of 
adjectives"  was  the  lion  in  his  path,  and  he  came  to  his  teacher 
ready  to  give  all  up.  "Samuel,"  said  the  preceptor,  with  a  kind 
sternness,  "I  will  not  hear  of  this, — not  a  word  of  it!  You  know 
'he  that  putteth  his  hand  to  the  plough,  and  looketh  back,  is  not  fit 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven.' .  There  never  was  a  mountain  so  high 
that  it  could  not  be  climbed."  So  he  urged  the  timid  youth  forward, 
and  this  was  the  last  murmur  of  difficulty  he  heard  from  him. 

Mr.  Smith,  meanwhile,  gave  him  aid  in  another  way.  At  the 
supper  of  a  club  to  which  he  belonged,  he  told  the  company  of 
Samuel's  incorrigible  love  of  books.  Dr.  Prentiss  was  present  on 
invitation,  and  being  questioned,  gave  a  good  account  of  his  dili- 
gence and  promise.  A  subscription  was  opened,  and  about  four 
hundred  dollars  raised  on  the  spot.* 

While  studying  the  Greek  Testament  he  sometimes  heard  John 

*  The  writer  acknowledges  his  obligations  to  the  courtesy  of  Dr.  Prentiss  for  the 
eornmuiiication  of  these  and  otlier  incidents  in  the  early  career  of  Newell,  to  which 
his  mi-id,  in  tlie  ocaeeful  dt'cliiie  of  li.'e.  recurs  with  vivid  and  pleasant  recollection. 


SAMUEL    XEWELL.  147 

Murraj,  the  Universalist  preacher,  and  showed  an  inclination  to 
study  more  than  the  letter  of  the  text.  He  frequently  asked  the 
interpretation  of  different  passages.  His  teacher  declined  following 
him  in  this  pursuit.  He  would  instruct  him,  he  said,  in  the  idiom 
of  the  Greek,  but  could  not  teach  him  theology.  "When  you  get 
to  Cambridge,  you  will  have  a  professor  of  divinity  more  capable 
than  I  am."  But  his  pupil  was  not  to  be  hindered.  He  persisted  in 
studying  the  principles  of  theology  with  such  aids  as  he  could  obtain. 
In  two  years  he  was  prepared  to  enter  college.  His  preparation 
was  thorouo-h  and  exact.  He  became  a  member  of  Harvard  College 
in  the  autumn  of  1803,  as  the  "Regent's,"  or  "Butler's  Freshman," 
in  which  capacity  he  defrayed  most  of  his  expenses  by  ringing  the 
bell  and  other  services.  His  standing  as  a  scholar  was  good,  and 
on  graduating  he  received  an  honourable  appointment  for  the 
commencement. 

..  Soon  after  enterino;  college  he  showed  much  seriousness  on  reli- 
gious  subjects,  and  frequently  sat  under  the  preaching  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Stillman,  the  eloquent  pastor  of  the  first  Baptist  church  in  Boston. 
In  October,  1804,  he  became  a  member  of  the  first  Congregational 
church  in  Roxburj^,  under  the  ministry  of  Rev.  Dr.  Porter.  His 
religious  views,  however,  were  not  thoroughly  settled,  and  during 
the  latter  part  of  his  collegiate  course  he  was  oppressed  with  doubts 
as  to  the  propriety  of  the  step  he  had  taken  in  making  a  public  pro- 
fession of  religion.  He  was  m.oreover  far  from  satisfied  with  the 
form  of  theolog}^  taught  b}^  Dr.  Porter.  That  church  was  one  of 
many  ancient  churches  in  Massachusetts,  which,  when  the  line  of 
division  was  drawn,  about  ten  years  after,  was  recognised  as  Unita- 
rian. Newell  had  not  so  learned  the  New-Testament  as  to  yield  his 
mind  without  a  struggle  to  the  "  j^rogress  "  he  witnessed,  and  between 
difficulties  in  theology  and  doubts  as  to  his  own  religions  state,  began 
to  absent  himself  from  the  communion.  His  old  preceptor,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  same  church,  was  not  prepared  to  sj'mpathize  with  these 
views,  and  remonstrated  against  them,  making  application  still  of  the 
same  text  that  had  been  wielded  with  such  effect  in  two  former  crises 
of  Samuel's  history.  But  his  3-outhful  friend  was  not  to  be  con- 
vinced that  the  following  of  that  plough  was  the  surest  way  into  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  And  so  effectually  was  his  teacher  taught  by 
these  and  subsequent  communications  between  them,  that  his  own 
views  were  ultimately  modified,  and  the  two  were  united  in  a  com- 
mon fellowship  of  evangelical  truth  and  piety. 


148  SAMUEL    NEWELL. 

After  graduating,  Mr.  Newell  spent  a  few  months  at  Roxburj  as 
an  assistant  teacher  in  the  grammar  school,  and  then  took  charge  of 
an  academy  at  Lynn.  Here  he  designed  to  remain  for  some  3'ears, 
but  his  mind  was  turned  towards  the  Christian  ministry,  and  in  1809 
he  became  a  member  of  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  at 
the  same  time  uniting  with  the  church  there,*  and  was  ranked  by 
his  instructors  as  one  of  the  jewels  of  that  institution.  It  was  here 
that  he  became  intimate  with  Judson  and  Nott,  and  entered  into  their 
purposes  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  He  was  one  of  the 
signers  of  that  paper  which  evoked  from  the  General  Association 
of  Massachusetts  the  constitution  of  the  American  board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions,  and  was  among  the  first  to  be  set 
apart  for  that  sacred  work. 

In  1810  Mr.  Newell  left  the  seminar}-,  and  preached  for  some 
time  at  Howley,  near  Newburyport,  Mass.  In  October  of  this  year 
he  was  first  introduced  to  Miss  Harriet  Atwood,  of  Haverhill,  a 
young  lady  of  devoted  piety  and  a  cultivated  mind,  to  whom  he 
made  a  proposal  of  marriage,  which,  after  much  conflict  of  feeling, 
inseparable  from  the  consideration  of  an  enterprise  then  so  strange 
and  untried,  she  accepted,  becoming  one  of  that  first  band  of  Ameri- 
can women  whose  missionary  career  has  been  so  honourable  to  their 
sex  and  to  their  country.  Mr.  Newell  in  the  following  summer  pro- 
ceeded to  Philadelphia  in  company  with  Gordon  Hal],  for  the  study 
of  Medicine.  In  February,  1812,  he  was  married,  and  on  the  19th, 
in  company  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson,  the  youthful  pair  set  forth 
on  their  uncertain  way. 

On  his  arrival  at  Serampore  Mr.  Newell  wrote  to  Dr.  Prentiss, 
acknowledging  his  obligations  for  the  kindly  aid  he  had  received  in 
his  boyhood.  "While  I  am  writing  to  you,"  he  said,  "I  cannot  but 
go  back  in  thought  to  the  year  1801,  when  you  found  me,  a  poor, 
ignorant  and  friendless  boy;  and  I  cannot  but  acknowledge  again, 
as  I  have  often  done,  that  the  encouragement  and  friendly  aid  which 
I  then  received  from  you,  was  that  which,  under  the  providence  of 
God,  gave  a  new  turn  to  all  the  succeeding  events  of  my  life.  To 
you,  probably,  as  the  instrument  of  God,  it  is  owing,  that  I  am  now 
a  minister  of  Christ  in  heathen  lands,  and  not  a  day-labourer  in 
America.     Permit  me,  dear  sir,  to  renew  my  professions  of  gratitude 

*  It  is  believed  that  he  had  not  been  connected  with  any  other  church  *han  that 
ill  Roxbury. 


SAMUEL    NEWELL.  149 

for  all  tlie  kindness  you  have  shown  me.  It  is  with  sentiments  of 
real  pleasure  that  I  recollect  the  continued  and  increasing  friend- 
ship that  has  subsisted,  and  I  hope  still  subsists,  between  us.  I  hope 
and  trust  it  is  built  on  a  foundation  that  will  render  it  perpetual,  on 
those  feelings  which  are  peculiar  to  such  as  have  felt  the  bitterness 
of  sin,  and  have  found  relief  only  from  a  Saviour's  blood.  If  so, 
though  we  may  meet  no  more  on  earth,  yet  we  shall  meet  in  a  bet- 
ter world,  where  it  will  only  increase  our  joy  that  we  have  been 
separated  for  a  few  days  on  earth." 

After  a  few  weeks'  pleasant  sojourn  at  Serampore,  the  mission- 
aries were  ordered  to  leave  the  country.  They  sought  every  means 
to  avoid  the  necessity  of  returning  to  America,  and  having  favour- 
able intelligence  from  the  Isle  of  France,  and  a  vessel  offering  pas- 
sage for  two  persons,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Newell  went  on  board  August 
4th,  expecting  that  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  would  follow  by  the  first 
opportunity.  Their  voyage  was  tedious  and  dangerous.  They  were 
tossed  about  nearly  a  month  in  the  Bay  of  Bengal  without  making 
any  sensible  progress  towards  their  destination.  On  the  27th  the 
vessel  sprung  a  leak,  and  they  put  into  Coringa,  a  small  port  on  the 
Coromandel  coast,  where  they  were  detained  a  fortnight.  They  then 
reembarked.  On  the  13th  of  October  they  had  the  sorrow  of  com- 
mitting to  the  deep  the  body  of  an  infant  daughter  born  on  ship- 
board. They  arrived  safely  at  Port  Louis,  the  capital  of  the  Isle  of 
France,  on  the  31st. 

Here  it  became  painfully  evident  to  Mr.  Newell,  that  his  affliction 
on  the  voyage  was  but  the  beginning  of  sorrows.  Mrs.  Newell  had 
shown  symptoms  of  pulmonary  disorder,  which  now  assumed  a  fatal 
type.  Medical  aid  was  fruitless,  and  on  the  30th  of  November,  at  the 
early  age  of  nineteen,  she  exchanged  the  trials  and  sufferings  of  a 
missionary  life,  of  which  she  had  already  experienced  no  small 
measure,  for  the  rewards  of  the  heavenly  state.  In  this  event,  not 
her  husband  alone,  but  all  the  friends  of  missions  felt  wounded. 
The  charm  of  an  engaging  domestic  circle,  and  an  ornament  to 
the  Christian  church,  she  had  surrendered  all  the  enjoyments  and 
endearments  of  a  New  England  home,  to  devote  her  youthful  ener- 
gies and  sanctified  affections  to  the  divine  service  among  the  heathen. 
She  had  suffered  the  privations,  without  living  to  possess  the  ]3 resent 
recompenses  of  successful  missionary  effort.  Her  heart  was  set  upon 
her  sacred  calling,  and  dearly  as  she  loved  her  friends  and  country, 
.she  was  filled  with  sadness  at  the  apprehension  that  she  might  be 


150  SAMUEL    NEWELL. 

compelled  to  withdraw  from  tlie  work.  But  an  authority  higher 
than  any  earthly  sovereignty  summoned  her  to  leave  it  when  upon 
its  threshold,  and  the  record  of  her  life  and  early  death  did  more 
for  the  promotion  of  the  cause  than  3'ears  of  active  service  might 
have  accomplished.  There  was  power  in  the  utterances  of  her  holy 
and  single  devotion,  augmented  as  they  came  wafted  from  her  grave, 
that  wrought  with  thrilling  effect  on  multitudes. 

The  painful  event  was  announced  by  Mr.  Newell  to  her  mother, 
in  a  letter  which  at  this  distance  of  time  has  lost  none  of  its  pathos, 
for  it  is  charged  with  the  undying  fervour  of  a  heart-felt  sorrow 
rising  into  joy  by  the  force  of  immortal  consolation.  "I  would  tell 
you,"  he  says,  ''how  God  has  disappointed  our  favourite  schemes, 
and  blasted  our  hopes  of  preaching  Christ  in  India,  and  has  sent  us 
all  away  from  that  extensive  field  of  usefulness  with  an  intimation 
that  lie  has  nothing  for  us  to  do  there.  I  would  tell  you  how  he 
has  visited  us  all  with  sickness,  and  how  he  has  affected  me  in  par- 
ticular, by  taking  away  the  dear  babe  which  he  gave  us,  the  child 
of  our  prayers,  of  our  hopes,  of  our  tears.     And  I  would  tell  you — • 

but  0,  shall  I  tell   it,  or  forbear? Have  courage,  my  mother, 

God  will  support  you  under  this  trial;  though  it  may  for  a  time 
cause  your  very  heart  to  bleed.  Come,  then,  let  us  mingle  our  griefe, 
and  weep  together,  for  she  was  dear  to  us  both ;  and  she,  too,  is 
gone.  Yes,  Harriet,  your  lovely  daughter,  is  gone,  and  you  will  see 
her  face  no  more !  My  own  dear  Harriet,  the  wife  of  my  youth  and 
the  desire  of  my  eyes,  has  bid  me  a  last  farewell,  and  left  me  to 
mourn  and  weep.  Yes,  she  is  gone.  I  wiped  the  cold  sweat  of  death 
from  her  pale,  emaciated  face,  while  we  travelled  together,  down  to 
the  entrance  of  the  dark  valley.  There  she  took  her  upward  flight, 
and  ascended  to  the  mansions  of  the  blessed!" 

Mr.  Newell  remained  at  the  Isle  of  France  for  about  three  months 
after  the  burial  of  his  wife.  On  the  2'lth  of  February  he  embarked 
for  Bombay,  intending  to  touch  at  Ceylon.  On  arriving  at  Point  de 
Galle,  where  he  expected  to  meet  one  or  both  of  his  brethren,  he 
learned  that  Messrs.  Hall  and  Nott  were  already  at  Bombay.  From 
what  he  could  learn  of  the  temper  of  the  government,  he  had  no  idea 
that  they  would  be  permitted  to  remain  on  the  continent  of  India, 
while  the  friendship  of  Governor  Brownrigg  gave  to  Ceylon  an  aspect 
of  greater  encouragement  as  a  missionary  field,  and  he  determined 
to  abide  there  for  the  present.  He  addressed  his  brethren  at  Bombay, 
inviting  them  to  Ceylon.      They  made  an  ineffectual  attempt  to 


SAMUEL    NEWELL.  151 

comply  witli  his  invitation,  but  were  providentially  driven  back  to 
Bombay.  They  wrote  that  they  had  hopes  of  being  permitted  to 
remain  there,  and  advised  him  to  study  with  a  view  to  join  them. 
Here  he  remained  about  a  year,  apprehensive,  from  long  silence,  that 
they  were  already  on  their  way  to  England,  and  with  entire  uncer- 
tainty resting  on  his  prospects.  He  occupied  himself  with  his  studies, 
and  preaching  twice  or  three  times  a  week  to  the  English  and  half- 
caste  people,  of  whom,  he  says,  "there  are  thousands  in  and  about 
Col  umbo,  who  stand  in  need  of  instruction  as  much  as  the  heathen." 

In  November  he  wrote  to  the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the 
Board.  His  bereavements,  disappointments,  loneliness  and  manifold 
uncertainties,  had  not  weakened  his  desire  to  be  about  the  great 
business  that  called  him  from  his  country.  He  set  forth  the  advan- 
tages of  Ceylon  as  a  missionary  station,  in  such  terms  as  led  to  its 
subsequent  occupation  by  the  Board,  and  the  success  that  has  attended 
it  confirms  the  soundness  of  his  views.  He  also  suggested  Bussura,  at 
the  head  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  as  a  desirable  location  for  a  missionary. 
In  Januar}^,  1814,  he  received  intelligence  from  Bombay  that  author- 
ized him  to  join  his  brethren  there.  He  addressed  a  note  to  Governor 
Brownrigg,  thanking  him  for  his  protection,  and  soliciting  permission 
to  depart,  with  testimonials  to  the  Governor  of  Bombay.  These 
were  cheerfully  granted,  and  on  the  7th  of  March  he  had  the  happi- 
ness of  joining  his  associates,  whom  he  had  not  been  permitted  to 
see  since  he  parted  from  them  in  America. 

From  this  time  Mr.  Newell  became  identified  with  the  Bombay 
mission,  entering  with  all  hfs  power  into  its  duties,  and  bearing 
manfully  his  full  share  of  its  burdens.  His  individual  life  seemed 
to  be  in  a  manner  swallowed  up  in  the  common  enterprise,  leaving 
no  personal  record  that  is  not  part  of  the  mission  history.  In  loving 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Hall,  he  concerned  himself  in  preaching,  trans- 
lating, teaching,  and  stirring  up  their  brethren  at  home  to  give 
themselves  with  increased  energy  to  the  work  on  which  they  were 
commissioned.  "I  have  so  little  time  for  writing,"  he  says,  in  a 
letter  of  July  14,  1816,  "that  (except  my  letters  to  the  Board)  lean 
do  little  more  than  to  tell  my  friends  that  I  remember  them  and 
love  them." 

A  literary  project  is  thus  mentioned  as  in  question  with  them,  but 
with  unusual  modesty  postponed  for  reasons  stated:  "It  is  the  inten- 
tion of  Mr.  Hall  and  myself  to  compose  a  Hindoo  Pantheon,  and  some 
other  things  of  the  kind,  as  soon  as  we  feel  ourselves  qualified.     At 


152  SAMUEL    NEWELL. 

present  we  should  be  liable  to  commit  endless  blunders ;  and  we 
think  it  needless  to  add  any  more  to  the  blunders  that  have  already 
been  made  by  those  who  have  written  on  India.  Even  the  Asiatic 
Kesearches  are  full  of  mis-statements,  groundless  assertions,  whim- 
sical theories,  &c.  (but  you  must  not  tell  anybody  that  I  say  so.) 
With  some  exceptions,  (such  as  Sir  William  Jones,  and  others  of  the 
same  stamp,)  those  who  have  written  on  subjects  connected  with  this 
country  have  been  uneducated  men.  The  Company's  servants 
who  are  sent  out  to  this  country,  are  generally  of  that  description. 
Almost  none,  except  the  professional  men  (and  man}?-  of  them  need 
not  be  excepted,)  have  had  a  liberal  education.  But  when  they  get 
here  they  are  the  lords  of  the  land,  and  of  course  think  themselves 
capable  of  doing  anything.  They  lay  down  propositions  involving 
the  most  important  consequences,  and  for  proof  seem  to  think  it 
quite  sufficient  to  bring  a  few  far-fetched  analogies,  a  thousand  of 
which  would  not  amount  to  a  probability."  Unhappil}^,  not  only 
for  such  schemes,  which  were  of  secondary  importance,  but  for  the 
weightier  interests  of  the  mission,  time  was  not  given  him  to  acquire 
the  desiderated  qualifications. 

In  1818  Mr.  Newell  was  married  to  Miss  Philomela  Thurston,  a 
lady  who  went  out  to  Bombay  the  preceding  year  in  company  with 
two  new  missionaries  appointed  to  that  station.  He  continued  to 
labour  with  all  fidelity  till  his  earthly  mission  was  closed  on  the  30th 
of  May,  1821.  He  had  a  presentiment  that  his  time  would  be  short, 
which  he  often  expressed,  but  until  the  fatal  event  was  imminent, 
no  visible  sign  foretold  its  approach.  He  was  in  his  usual  health 
till  the  evening  of  the  28th,  when  he  felt  somewhat  indisposed,  and 
passed  a  restless  night.  The  next  morning  he  was  worse,  but  no 
apprehension  of  danger  was  felt  till  about  ten  o'clock,  when  it 
became  manifest  that  his  disease  was  cholera,  which  was  then  epi- 
demic at  Bombay  and  in  the  vicinity.  It  had  made  such  progress 
that  he  was  beyond  the  reach  of  medical  aid,  and  he  gradually  sunk 
till  one  o'clock  of  the  following  morning,  when  he  placidly  breathed 
his  last.  His  senses  were  early  stupefied,  so  that  conversation  was 
impossible.  A  single  remark  fell  from  his  lips,  indicating  that  he 
knew  the  nature  of  his  disease.  When  asked  by  his  wife  if  he  could 
not  bid  her  farewell,  he  answered  by  shaking  his  head  and  gently 
pressing  her  hand.  His  remains  were  deposited  in  the  English 
burying-ground. 

Mr.  Newell's  physical  organization  was  delicate,  but  he  usually 


SAMUEL    NEWELL.  153' 

enjoyed  very  uniform  good  health.  His  manners  were  prepossess- 
ing, his  demeanor  modest,  his'^habitual  temper  earnest,  affectionate 
and  confiding.  He  had  in  a  large  measure  those  engaging  qualities 
which  lie  at  the  basis  of  enduring  friendship,  and  the  ties  which 
bound  him  to  his  chosen  associates  in  his  earlier  and  later  life  were 
of  the  nearest  and  most  tender  kind.  His  intellect  was  strong,  and 
diligently  cultivated,  and  his  acquired  knowledge  was  extensive, 
the  fruit  of  unremitting  and  judicious  application,  but  his  estimate 
of  himself  was  humble.  He  laboured  with  unyielding  energy,  and 
without  ostentation.  All  his  aims  and  efforts  were  subordinated  to 
the  sense  of  Christian  duty,  and  pervaded  by  an  habitual  piety,  the 
spring  of  cheerfulness  as  regarded  himself,  but  of  deep  sadness  in 
view  of  the  miseries  of  the  heathen.  The  strength  of  his  will,  the 
height  of  his  courage,  were  half- veiled  from  view  by  his  magnan- 
imous sympathy,  his  quick  and  tender  sensibilities,  that  responded 
to  the  first  appeal.  In  his  early  removal,  the  church  lost  a  faithful 
servant,  the  world  a  whole-hearted  philanthropist,  a  wide  circle  of 
friends  their  hope  and  joy;  and  heaven  gained  a  jewel  such  as  earth 
does  not  often  present  to  adorn  the  holy  city. 


HENRY    WATSON    FOX. 


There  are  some,  whose  conformity  to  a  high  principle  of  action 
is  so  thorough  as  to  seem  spontaneous,  and  their  steadfast  progress, 
from  the  absence  of  visible  effort  and  struggle,  makes  a  fainter 
impression  on  an  observer  than  if  there  were  more  inequality,  occa- 
sional yieldings  to  resistance  with  painful  recoveries  and  more  urgent 
speed  to  make  up  the  loss.  If,  besides  this  quality,  a  life  have  few 
or  no  shining  incidents,  but  depends  rather  for  its  value  on  the  sum 
of  a  series  of  acts  that  are  individually  and  outwardly  of  no  extra- 
ordinary estimation,  it  is  still  more  likely  that,  however  noble  it 
may  be  when  duly  considered,  it  will  fail  to  challenge  its  just  meas- 
ure of  admiration.  But  it  may  be  thought  that  for  the  world,  as  it 
now  goes,  the  best  service  a  man  can  render  to  society  is  to  live  a 
true  life,  true  to  a  just  and  pure  standard.  And  if  that  lesson  of 
"  the  chief  end  of  man,"  in  a  manual  now  grown  old-fashioned  among 
us,  has  been  truly  taught,  lives  that  are  true  by  that  test,  or  even 
nearly  approaching  to  it  in  their  aim  and  purpose,  are  not  so  numer- 
ous that  the  memorial  of  one  can  justly  be  deemed  superfluous. 
The  life,  a  brief  outline  of  which  we  here  propose,  was  short,  and 
was  surely  not  splendid,  if  judged  alone  by  its  exterior.  The  num- 
ber to  whom  it  was  immediately  visible  was  not  large.  Nor  was  it 
by  any  means  perfect;  it  had  its  lapses.  Yet  whoever,  on  atten- 
tively surveying  it,  pronounces  it  of  little  moment  to  himself  or  the 
world,  is  seriously  advised  to  try  if  he  can  live  one  like  it.  He  may 
then  possibly  come  to  have  a  new  perception  of  its  character. 

Henry  Watson  Fox  was  born  at  Westoe,  in  the  county  of  Durham, 
England,  October  1,  1817.  He  was  brought  up  in  the  enjoyment 
of  the  unspeakable  blessings  of  a  Christian  home.  His  father  added 
"to  the  full  character  of  the  English  gentleman  a  beautiful  example 
of  the  decided,  consistent  Christian,"  and  his  example  was  seconded 
by  other  members  of  the  household.  The  direct  instructions  and 
the  daily  silent  influences  that  moulded  his  character  and  gave 
direction  to  his  aims  were  of  the  most  healthful  kind.  During  his 
childhood  he  showed  an  amiable  disposition  that  yielded  gracefully 


156  HENRY    WATSON    FOX. 

to  the  Christian  discipline  of  his  home,  where  his  early  education 
was  conducted  till  the  age  of  eleven.  He  then  went  to  the  Durham 
Grammar  School  for  two  years,  and  at  the  age  of  thirteen  was 
removed  to  Rugby  School,  at  that  time  under  the  direction  of  Dr. 
Arnold,  a  man  of  whose  excellences  it  is  difficult  to  speak  in  fit 
terms  to  those  not  familiar  with  his  life  and  character,  without  the 
appearance  of  exaggeration.  To  a  vigorous  intellect,  extensive 
learning  and  commanding  influence,  he  added  a  lofty  ideal  of  Chris- 
tian manliness,  that  he  loved  to  hold  up  to  his  pupils  for  their 
attainment,  and  which  is  more,  that  he  exemplified  in  a  degree  and 
with  a  consistency  rarely  equalled.  Next  to  a  home  graced  with  the 
utmost  social  refinement,  and  sanctified  by  the  spirit  of  true  piety,  no 
greater  blessing  could  have  been  conferred  on  the  boyhood  of  Henry 
Fox  than  he  found  in  the  guidance  of  Dr.  Arnold  during  the  six 
years  he  spent  at  Rugby. 

■  His  first  decisive  indications  of  a  religious  character  showed 
themselves  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  His  personal  relations  to  the  great 
truths  of  Christianity  seem  to  have  been  clearly  seen  and  submit- 
ted to,  not,  indeed,  without  serious  conflict,  but  with  less  mental 
agitation  than  is  experienced  by  many,  especiallj^  of  those  who  meet 
the  issue  later  in  life.  His  earliest  impressions  were  the  fruit  of  the 
faithful  and  affectionate  admonitions  of  a  brother  and  sister,  to  whom 
he  often  expressed  the  warmest  gratitude,  and  from  whose  counsels 
he  sought  guidance  and  support  as  he  went  on  his  wa}^  The  letters 
in  which  the  progress  of  his  religious  life  is  disclosed,  show  a  strength 
and  sobriety  of  mind  beyond  the  common  attainment  of  such  tender 
years.  Moreover  they  have  a  charming  simplicity  and  directness, 
being  free  from  anything  like  cant  or  set  phrases  of  devotion,  but 
showing  how  the  weightiest  truths  were  applied  to  the  common  pur- 
suits and  trials  of  a  school-boy,  and  how  diligently,  according  to  his 
opportunities,  he  sought  to  do  good.  "Temptations,"  he  sa3^s,  "come 
on  so  insinuatingly  that  I  can  scarcely  perceive  them  at  first.  The 
two  greatest  are,  I  think,  pride  of  heart,  in  thinking  myself  better 
than  others,  in  comparing  myself  with  others;  and  though  in  my 
understanding  I  see  how  wicked  I  am,  yet  my  heart  is  so  sinful  that 
it  is  with  difficulty  I  find  means  of  repressing  such  thoughts.  The 
other  temptation  is,  wasting  time,  which  comes  on  by  little  and  little, 
but  which  I  hope  soon  to  be  able,  with  God's  assistance,  to  over- 
come. I  find  myself  so  sinful,  that  were  it  not  for  Christ's  blessed 
promises,  I  could  scarcely  fixncy  he  would  hear  me;  but  he  has  felt 


HENRY    WATSON    FOX.  157 

the  infirmities  and  temptations  of  man,  and  from  thence  I  derive 
great  comfort." 

"There  is  a  very  interesting  case  here.  There  is  a  little  boy 
about  fourteen  years  old,  in  other  respects  a  nice  little  boy,  and  one 
whom  I  was  rather  fond  of:  but,  the  other  day,  in  talking  with  him, 
I  discovered  he  never  read  his  Bible;  in  short,  he  knew  nothing  of 
the  Christian  religion.  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  impress  on 
him  the  awful ness  of  his  state,  but  he  seems  scarcely  to  care  whether 
he  is  lost  or  saved.  He  understands  neither  heaven  nor  hell,  nor 
that  he  is  born  for  any  other  state  than  this, — that  is  to  say,  he  does 
not  feel  it  to  be  the  case:  he  has  apparently  been  completely  neg- 
lected at  home  with  respect  to  religious  matters.  Now  I  want  to 
know  how  to  proceed  with  him,' — how  to  open  his  mind, — for  I 
think  when  he  once  perceives  in  his  heart  how  wicked  he,  together 
with  all  others  are,  that  he  will  be  more  able  and  willing  to  under- 
stand the  truths  of  the  gospel," 

In  a  subsequent  letter  he  speaks  of  his  "little  pupil,"  as  improv- 
ing. Another  boy  with  whom  he  conversed  excited  hopes  which 
proved  illusory.  The  self-denials  of  a  Christian  life  were  too  much 
for  his  inclinations.  "  I  was  the  more  disappointed  in  him,"  Ilenry 
writes,  "as  I  had  before  found  him  willing  in  the  general,  but  when 
I  came  to  particulars,  and  he  saw  he  must  give  up  certain  pleasures 
if  he  would  give  himself  entirely  to  God,  then  he  thought  he  had 
gone  far  enough  and  I  had  gone  too  far:  for  God  tells  us  to  go  as  far 
as  we  can^ 

So  he  evidently  sought  to  press  forward,  and  to*  this  end  made 
very  diligent  use  of  the  means  of  grace.  "I  always  find  the  Sun- 
day," he  writes,  "too  short  for  what  I  want  to  do  on  it.  I  therefore 
intend  to  make  some  other  day  during  the  week  like  a  second  Sun- 
day, and,  except  my  lessons,  read  and  think  of  nothing  save  God 
only.  Many  others  here  think  as  I  used  to  do  formerly,  that  Sun- 
day is  too  long,  and  therefore  spend  two  or  three  hours  in  bed  longer 
than  usual,  and  spend  the  day  inlistlessness,  or  perhaps  worse,  never 
thinking  what  a  blessing  they  are  throwing  awny.  I  feel  now 
as  you  told  me  you  did,  that  the  Sabbath  is  quite  a  rest  from 
the  worldly  thoughts  of  the  other  parts  of  the  week.  Last  Sun- 
day was  a  most  beautiful  da^^,  and  I  took  a  walk  b}'  mj-self  into 
the  country,  and  never  felt  so  happy  before.  I  continued  for  more 
than  an  hour  praising  and  praying  to  God,  and  thanking  him.  I 
shall  never  neglect  it  again.     I  felt  it  as  a  preparation  for  heaven." 


i53  HENRY    WATSON    FOX. 

His  progress,  as  may  be  supposed  in  one  so  3^oung,  was  slow  and 
sometimes  tentative,  but  generally  sure.  "What  I  have  till  now 
found  my  greatest  difficulty,"  he  writes,  a  few  weeks  after,  "has  been 
prayer,  I  could  offer  up  words,  but  as  I  could  have  no  idea  of  God, 
I  felt  I  could  not  offer  up  my  heart  to  him:  but  lately,  on  thinking 
and  at  last  feeling,  that  God  is  always  present  in  my  inmost  soul,  I 
can  heartily  ask  for  what  I  need,  and  often,  and  continual!}^  througli- 
out  the  day,  keep  my  thoughts  on  him,  which  I  used  to  find  almost 
impossible.  I  derive  the  very  greatest  advantage  from  this,  for 
whilst  I  am  continually  keeping  my  heart  with  God,  it  is  contrary 
to  ni}^  very  nature  to  commit  sin  against  him ;  that  is,  at  least,  known 
sin.  I  feel  and  know  that  this  has  not  been  through  my  own  means, 
but  throu^^'h  the  Q-race  of  God  alone."  And  a  month  later  he  savs: 
"I  feel  so  happy  now;  I  have  at  last  been  able  to  overcome  my 
greatest  temptation,  viz:  of  lying  in  bed  too  late;  and  in  examin- 
ing myself  in  an  evening,  I  generally  find  that  God  has  enabled  me 
to  overcome  every  known  temptation  during  the  day,"  His  con- 
ceptions were  still  indistinct  on  some  important  subjects,  but  he  was 
in  "the  path  of  the  just,"  and  the  light  shone  "brighter  and  brighter 
unto  the  perfect  day." 

On  reaching  the  "sixth  form,"  he  found  himself  invested,  by 
virtue  of  his  standing,  with  the  dignity  of  "  praeposter."  By  thus 
committing  to  the  older  boys  a  share  in  the  discipline  of  the  school, 
Dr.  Arnold  sought  to  develope  the  more  sober  and  manly  qualities, 
and  Avhile  this  custom,  and  their  privilege  of  "  fagging"  their  juniors, 
■which  Dr.  Arnold  kept  in  full  force,  involved  some  risk  of  tj^ranny 
on  the  part  of  bad  boys,  yet  the  sense  of  responsibility,  the  con- 
sciousness that  on  them  the  discipline,  and  consequently  the  credit 
of  the  school,  largely  depended,  exerted  a  valuable  influence  on 
members  of  "the  sixth."  "I  find  a  very  difficult  point  to  manage 
in  my  duty  as  praposter,"  Henry  wrote,  "namely,  to  draw  the  line 
between  'official'  and  'personal'  offences, — to  discover  where  I  feel 
revenge,  and  where  I  do  anything  to  enforce  the  power  that  properly 
belongs  to  me.  I  think  I  may  learn  from  this  not  to  desire  earthly 
power,  as  it  only  increases  our  difficulties  and  temptations." 

The  profession  to  which  he  was  originally  destined  was  the  law, 
but  other  desires  were  gradually  awakened.  These  he  expressed  in 
a  letter  to  his  sister,  of  April  13,  1835:  "I  feel  every  day  an  increas- 
ing desire  of  becoming  a  clergyman.  I  desire  to  be  alwa\'S  employed 
ill  more  immediately  serving  God,  and  bringing  many  souls  untc 


HENRY    WATSON    FOX.  159 

salvation.  I  am  aware  tliat  we  can  do  our  duty  and  a  great  deal 
of  good  in  every  station  of  life;  but  I  think  that  a  clergyman  is 
more  particularly  appointed  to  do  good,  being  a  light  set  upon  a 
hill.  I  have  hitherto,  and  I  know  you  have  at  home  also,  looked 
forward  to  my  going  to  the  bar,  but  it  is  not  so  now, — it  can  scarcely 
ever  be  too  late  to  change  my  prospects.  If  it  is  particularly  the 
wish  of  my  father  and  mother  and  you  all  that  I  should  fulfill  the 
original  proposition,  I  willingly  acquiesce;  but  if  it  is  indifferent,  or 
of  no  great  importance  to  you,  I  should  prefer  very  much  to  enter 
the  service  of  the  church."  It  was  not  long  before  his  thoughts 
went  still  further.  In  August  he  writes:  "I  have  been  reading  the 
life  of  Henry  Martyn,  and  I  have  derived  the  most  instructing  les- 
sons from  it.  I  found  how  much  the  enjoyment  of  things  of  this 
world  has  hold  on  me,  and  when  I  considered  his  state  of  giving 
himself  up  to  be  a  missionary,  and  asked  myself,  could  I  give  up 
home  and  the  pleasures  and  happiness  I  enjoy  from  worldly  objects, 
to  do  this  laborious  work  for  the  Lord's  sake?  I  found  the  weak- 
ness of  my  love  to  God,  and  my  need  of  constant  prayer  that  I 
may  set  my  affections  on  things  above,  and  not  things  below;  that 
I  may  confide  my  present  as  well  as  my  future  happiness  to  my 
heavenly  Father,  and  make  God  my  all  in  all,  my  desire,  my  hap- 
piness and  my  hope." 

To  do  every  thing  "for  God's  glory,"  he  repeatedly  speaks  of  as 
his  constant  aim.  His  liveliest  apprehensions  and  most  constant 
jealousies  of  himself  were  awake  on  this  point.  In  studies,  recrea- 
tions, efforts  to  do  good,  the  dread  of  acting  from  selfish  or  worldly 
motives,  led  to  continual  watchfulness.  In  a  letter  of  April  17,  1836, 
he  saj^s:  "I  feel  a  very  great  temptation  attacking  me  now,  in  the 
form  of  a  love  of  this  world,  which  has  come  upon  me  from  the 
prospect  of  the  examinations  at  the  end  of  this  half-year:  for  these 
are  constantly  before  my  eyes,  on  account  of  my  preparation  for 
them,  and  I  am  led  to  look  forward  to  them  as  the  end  to  which  nil 
my  present  labours  are  to  be  directed,  instead  of  doing  all  things 
directly  for  God's  sake ; — this  necessarily  brings  a  great  darkness 
over  me,  since  I  am  tempted  to  have  another  object  in  view  instead 
of  Christ;  but  yet  with  the  temptation  God  gives  a  way  to  escape, 
and  I  trust  and  pray,  that  by  His  grace  I  may  not  only  come  out 
of  this  trial  unhurt,  but  improved  by  it.  I  read  in  Dr.  Arnold's 
sermons  to-day,  that  'if  we  have  truly  tasted  that  the  Lord  is  gra- 
cious, our  only  reason  for  wishing  to  remain  on  earth  must  be  to 


160  HENRY    WATSON    FOX. 

furtlier  liis  kingdom,'  and  I  thought  how  very  true,  and  yet  how 
many  other  motives  do  we  allow  to  come  in  the  way; — how  many 
other  ties  to  earth  do  we  make  for  ourselves!" 

The  thought  of  a  missionary  life  was  more  vividly  excited  by  an 
address  on  that  subject.  "We  had  a  very  nice  meeting  here  about 
a  week  ago,"  he  writes,  June  13;  "Baptist  Noel  was  present,  and 
gave  a  very  interesting  account  of  missions  in  the  east,  especially 
of  an  entrance  into  China;  he  made  me  remember  Ilenry  j\[artyn." 
— "It  was  very  refreshing  and  useful  to  me,  and  may  perhaps  be 
the  cause  of  still  more  good ;  for  what  Mr.  Koel  spoke  so  earnestly 
about, — the  want  not  of  funds  merely,  but  of  missionaries, — has 
much  more  than  even  before  led  me  to  think  seriously  of  so  em 
ploying  the  talents  which  God  has  given  me." 

At  midsummer  of  this  year  he  bade  adieu  to  Rugby,  the  scene  of 
so  much  enjoyment  and  profit,  and  to  his  venerated  instructor,  of 
whom  he  ever  spoke  with  expressions  of  gratitude  and  admiration. 
He  had  intended  to  offer  himself  for  a  scholarship  in  "Wadham  Col- 
lege, Oxford,  and  was  preparing  to  go  up  to  the  examination,  when 
a  sudden  illness  detained  him  at  Rugby.  In  explaining  the  deten- 
tion to  his  friends,  he  wrote:  "This  has  happened  at  an  unfortunate 
time,  as  we  call  things  unfortunate ;  but  as  it  was  not  in  our  own 
hands,  but  in  His  who  has  knowledge  and  power  infinitely  beyond 
ours,  we  have  no  more  reason  to  call  it  unfortunate  than  the  con- 
trary ;  it  is  not  our  own  will  or  good  we  seek, — and  He  knows  the 
best,  both  what  is  best  for  us,  Imd  how  we  may  be  the  better  enabled 
to  work  to  His  glory;  that  was  to  be  the  only  end  of  my  gaining 
the  scholarship." — "Now  I  am  only  afraid  lest  my  father  should  be 
much  disappointed;  though  for  my  own  sake  I  would  rather  that  it 
should  be  as  it  is,  than  that  I  should  have  tried  for  it  and  failed,  as 
that,  I  think,  would  have  disappointed  him  still  more." 

Mr.  Fox  began  his  residence  at  Oxford  in  October,  1836.  His 
course  at  Rugby  had  been  honourable  to  him  as  a  scholar,  awaken- 
ing high  expectations  of  success  at  the  university,  while  his  moral 
and  religious  principles  were  more  firmly  established  than  in  most 
young  men  of  his  age.  But  he  was  yet  overcome  in  a  measure  by 
the  temptations  incident  to  life  at  Oxford,  and  his  course  disappointed 
his  own  hopes  and  the  anticipations  of  his  friends.  A  spirit  of  self- 
indulgence  and  carelessness  in  the  disposal  of  his  time,  which  the 
rigid  discipline  of  school  had  repressed,  relaxed  his  exertions  in 


HENRT    WATSON    FOX.  16l 

study.  An  incautious  choice  of  associates,  and  a  love  of  exciting 
amusements,  especially  of  boat-racing,  aggravated  these  dispositions, 
and  caused  a  declension  from  his  former  religious  ardour.  So  that 
although  his  deportment  was  exemplary  and  his  standing  as  a 
scholar  respectable,  he  failed  of  those  distinctions  which  seemed 
within  his  reach,  and,  what  most  grieved  him  in  the  retrospect,  fell 
backward  from  the  high  spiritual  standard  towards  which  he  had 
so  bravely  borne  himself  while  at  Eugby.  The  tractarian  move- 
ment, the  development  of  which  has  seemed  so  much  to  abridge  the 
distance  and  facilitate  the  journey  between  Oxford  and  Eome,  was 
then  in  its  beginning.  Fox,  like  many  others,  was  somewhat  daz- 
zled with  the  show  of  devotion  made  by  the  leaders  in  this  effort  to 
"  unprotestantize  the  Church  of  England,"  but  was  happily  unshaken 
in  his  faith,  and  was  not  long  in  discovering  the  tendency  of  things. 
Years  afterwards,  in  India,  when  a  brahmin  refused  to  take  a  copy 
of  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  with  the  plea  that  he  could  not  understand  it 
on  account  of  the  intended  obscurity  of  all  "sacred  writings,"  he 
exclaimed,  "Who  would  have  expected  the  principle  of  tract  No.  90 
to  have  been  forestalled  in  an  obscure  Hindoo  village!" 

But  during  the  third  year  of  his  university  course  his  mind  and 
heart  appeared  to  recover  their  tone.  He  became  more  active  in 
the  discharge  of  his  religious  duties,  struggled  with  and  overcame 
his  besetting  temptations.  In  connection  with  this  quickening  of 
his  spiritual  affections,  the  desire  to  become  a  missionary  was  rekin- 
dled. He  took  his  degree  in  December,  1839,  but  resided  for  some 
months  after  at  Oxford,  during  which  time  he  decided  to  offer  him- 
self for  the  foreign  service  of  the  church. 

This  decision  was  not  made  on  any  hasty  impulse,  nor  was  it 
resisted  by  any  of  those  excuses  which  are  always  at  hand  when 
sought  for.  He  considered  the  subject  deliberately,  anxiously 
weighing  reasons  and  testing  his  motives,  with  earnest  prayer  and 
the  advice  of  experienced  friends.  If  he  did  not  much  dwell  on 
the  personal  sacrifices  he  must  make,  it  was  from  no  stoical  insensi- 
bility, for  his  affections  were  strong;  but  it  was  because  he  sought 
something  higher  than  his  own  present  enjoyment.  Compared  with 
the  question,  "by  what  (life  or)  death  he  should  glorify  God,"  every 
thing  else  was  laid  out  of  view,  not  without  "some  natural  tears," 
hut  with  more  than  heroic, — with  Christian  fortitude. 

In  January,  1840,  he  writes;  ^^  I  must  he  a  missionary.  My  reasons 
11 


162  HENRY    WATSON    FOX. 

are  simply  tliese:  that  there  is  an  overwhelming  call  for  missionaries 
to  the  heathen,  and  we,  the  Church  of  England,  have  been  drawing 
down  punishments  on  our  heads  by  our  neglect  in  not  hearing  the 
call;  and  thus  some  one  must  go,  and  if  no  one  else  will  go,  he  who 
hears  the  call,  (peculiarly  adapted  for  the  service  or  no)  must  go,  I 
hear  the  call,  for  indeed  God  has  brought  it  before  me  on  every  side, 
and  go  I  must." — "As  often  as  I  turn  the  question  in  my  mind,  I 
can  only  arrive  at  the  same  conclusion,  and  weak  and  earthly  as  are 
many  of  my  present  motives  for  going,  (for  I  am  full  of  romantic 
fancies.)  yet  I  see  reasons  far  beyond  these  motives,  and  pray  that 
my  heart  may  be  filled  by  more  worthy  motives,  and  a  pure  and 
single  love  of  men  in  Christ;  and  I  know  that  when  I  enter  on  my 
labours  such  fancies  will  be  driven  away  like  chaff,"  In  his  journal 
about  the  same  time  he  says:  "My  great  desire  now  is,  that  my 
heart  may  be  made  single,  so  that  my  motive  for  going  or  staying 
may  be  simply  the  saving  of  souls,  to  Jesus'  glory;  but  at  present 
they  are  mingled  with  a  thousand  feelings  of  romance  and  heroism. 
And  0!  my  God,  my  God,  men  are  perishing,  and  I  take  no  care!" 
As  the  time  for  final  decision  drew  near,  his  anxieties  deepened. 
His  conclusion  is  thus  stated  in  his  journal  of  March  27:  "To-day 
I  have  come  to  my  final  decision  to  be  a  missionary ;  I  am  well  sat- 
isfied and  convinced  as  to  this  being  my  true  course  of  dutj'-,  and  I 
thank  God  for  making  it  so  plain  to  me.  Emeris  sat  with  me  during 
the  evening,  and  we  prayed  together  for  guidance,  and  help,  and 
comfort  in  our  absence." — "I  am  willing  and  thankful  to  give  myself 
up  to  do  God's  service,  by  preaching  to  the  heathen,  and  leaving 
father  and  mother,  brothers  and  sisters,  home  and  friends;  yea,  and 
if  it  please  Him,  life  itself.  It  is  an  honour  too  great  for  me.  Oh ! 
may  grace  be  given  me  to  serve  Him  in  it!" 

He  attended  the  anniversary  services  of  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  in  May,  which  seem  to  have  stirred  his  heart  not  a  little, 
and  in  a  letter  to  a  friend  he  gave  utterance  to  his  thoughts  and 
emotions  in  language  of  more  than  usual  strength  and  solemnity: 
"I  am  more  and  more  daily  assured  in  my  heart  (my  head  used  to 
tell  me  so  before)  that  any  object  but  that  of  glorifjdng  God  is  not 
only  vanity  and  vexation,  but  must  fail  to  satisfy,  and  cannot  be 
blessed:  I  wish  to  strive  to  do  all  to  his  glory  who  has  died  for  us 
that  we  might  come  freely  to  him  for  salvation ;  and  having  been 
taught  by  his  Spirit  to  know,  myself,  the  liberty  and  joy  of  being 
his.  I  would  wish  (but  daily  have  to  mourn  for  fdling  so  short  even 


HENRY    WATSON    FOX.  163 

in  my  wishes,)  to  be  given  up  to  preaching  and  urging  on  others 
the  glorious  truth.  If  I  have  not  to  die  in  so  doing,  I  hope  I  may 
live  to  do  so,  and  live  in  doing  so.  Do  try  to  look  on  life  as  a  great 
energy  for  doing  good  to  others;  the  source  of  such  energy  to  spring 
from  God,  and  to  be  obtained  by  prayer  continually,  and  a  pure 
devotion  of  the  heart  to  him;  seek  rather  to  cast  away  such  objects 
as  bettering  one's  condition  in  the  world,  or  earthly  happiness;  these 
are  very  well  as  means,  but  as  ends  they  are  quite  unsatisfactory." 
In  the  same  letter  there  is  an  unexpected  and  beautiful  disclosure 
of  tender  feeling  at  the  thought  of  bidding  adieu  to  England :  "  This 
afternoon  we  had  a  very  heav}'  rain ;  but  about  five  it  cleared  up, 
and  there  was  an  hour  or  two  of  'clear  shining  after  rain'  peculiarly 
brilliant  in  its  lights  and  what  scenes  the  light  fell  on: — all  over  to 
Bath  was  still  overshadowed  by  the  storm,  the  air  thick  up  Ashton 
Vale ;  to  the  west  all  was  brilliant.  I  walked  out  on  the  Downs,  and 
sat  on  the  look-out  point  for  half  an  hoar,  to  the  influences  of 
shapes  and  sounds  and  shifting  elements  surrendering  my  whole 
spirit.  The  air  was  soft  and  balmy,  and  perfectly  calm;  the  smell 
was  as  of  fresh  grass;  the  sounds  were  of  'two  or  three  thrushes' 
and  the  shouting  of  the  cuckoo:  the  sights  were  the  lovely  Lea 
Woods  and  Nightingale  Valley,  all  in  the  tenderest,  softest  green,  half 
hid  in  dazzling  light,  half  lying  in  quiet  shade,  and  the  gray  rock 
shining  through  and  against  them.  I  must  leave  them  all ;  the  green 
woods,  the  balmy  air,  the  birds'  song,  the  English  homes  and  green 
lanes,  the  little  cottages  and  their  gardens,  the  children  with  their  blue 
eyes  and  flaxen  hair,  are  all  soon  to  be  seen  for  the  last  time;  bu1» 
I  am  thankful  to  say,  I  never  so  much  as  feel  a  wish  to  stay,  thougli 
I  feel  a  regret  at  going.  We  need  much  strength  which  is  not  in 
ourselves  to  bear  our  trials,  and  not  repine  or  shrink  from  going 
through  them;  it  is  truly  through  much  suffering  that  we  must 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  but  it  bears  its  fruit  even  at 
present,  for  God  has  promised  spiritual  blessings  which  shall  more 
than  compensate  for  the  loss  of  relations,  and  friends,  and  home." 

lie  was  ordained  by  the  Bishop  of  London,  December  21,  18-10, 
and  on  the  thirtieth  was  married.  He  had  been  previously  appointed 
by  the  Church  Missionary  Society  to  labour  among  the  Teloogoos 
in  southern  India.  It  happened  that  Rev.  Eobert  T.  Noble,  of  Sid- 
ney Sussex  College,  Cambridge,  had  his  mind  drawn  to  the  same 
Work,  among  the  same  people,  and  he  and  Mr.  Fox,  unknown  to 
each  other,  offered  themselves  and  were  accepted  at  the  same  time. 


16-i  HENRY    WATSON    FOX. 

From  one  painful  trial  that  not  unfrequcntly  saddens  tlie  departure 
of  a  missionary  Mr.  Fox  was  spared, — the  opposition  of  near  friends. 
Both  his  parents  cordially  assented  to  his  wishes,  and  even  counted 
themselves  happy  in  having  a  son  willing  to  devote  himself  to  so 
good  a  work.  They  responded  heartily  to  the  appeal  which  he 
addressed  to  his  mother,  an  appeal  which,  more  than  almost  any- 
thing that  came  from  his  pen,  shows  how  much  strength  was  mingled 
in  a  character  of  so  profound  tenderness:  "I  have  to  thank  both 
you  and  my  father  for  giving  consent  to  my  plan  of  being  a  mis- 
sionary; and  a  hundred  times  have  I  had  cause  to  thank  you  in  my 
heart  for  it,  and  to  feel  the  comfort  of  it;  but  I  wish,  and  it  is  for 
your  own  sake  that  I  wish  it,  that  you  gave  j^our  consent  and  now 
concurred  more  willingly  and  heartily ;  not  merely  allowing  me  to  go, 
but  with  zeal  sending  me  forth:  and  I  wish  this,  not  because  you 
should  destroy  the  feelings  which  cause  pain  at  the  prospect  of  my 
departure,  nor  because  I  think  it  a  light  thing  that  you  should  have 
given  even  a  half-willing  consent,  but  because  our  gifts  to  God  should 
be  given  with  the  whole  heart;  for  'God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver;' 
and  if  such  be  the  spirit  in  which  we  should  give  our  gold  and  silver, 
how  much  more  should  it  be  that  in  which  we  should  give  our  own 
flesh  and  blood.  Nor  is  it  only  a  yielding  to  a  fancy  of  mine,  or  to 
my  judgment  that  the  missionary  sphere  is  the  one  most  needing 
assistance,  that  I  ask  of  you  to  give  both  liberally  and  cheerfully,  but 
I  ask  of  you  heartily  to  acquiesce  in  the  guidance  of  God's  providence. 
I  believe  from  the  bottom  of  my  heart,  with  that  strong  sense  of 
certainty  and  assurance  which  is  only  given  to  us  on  important  points, 
that  the  missionary  course  of  life  on  which  I  am  about  to  enter,  is  my 
peculiar  mission  and  work  for  which  I  was  brought  into  this  world ; 
and  that,  unless  I  was  to  follow  the  course  so  providentially  and 
clearly  pointed  out  to  me  in  my  heart,  I  might,  so  far  as  my  peculiar 
work  of  life  is  concerned,  as  well  be  in  my  grave."  His  parents  showed 
themselves  worthy  of  such  a  son.  None  could  more  keenly  feel  the 
disruption  of  the  ties  of  nature,  and  nothing  but  an  entire  subjection 
to  the  claims  of  duty,  and  a  large  measure  of  the  spirit  that  animated 
him,  would  have  enabled  them  to  make  such  a  sacrifice.  "  The  separa- 
tion about  to  be  made,"  says  his  brother,  "  was  at  that  time  looked  upon 
aa  final,  and  my  brother's  character  was  so  endearing,  that  it  seemed 
to  all  as  if  we  had  given  up  the  choicest  member,  him  whom  our  hearts 
could  least  afford  to  spare ;  yet  surely  when  making  an  offering  to  God, 
it  should  not  be  the  maimed  or  the  lame,  but  the  choicest  of  the  flock." 


HENRY    WATSON    FOX.  165 

On  the  6tli  of  March,  1841,  he  was  parted  from  them  in  London, 
whence  he  and  his  wife  proceeded  to  Gravesend,  but  were  detained 
till  the  8th,  and  then  embarked  for  Madras,  where  they  arrived 
Jul}^  5tli.  From  Madras  they  proceeded  to  Masulipatam,  or  Bunder, 
three  hundred  miles  northward,  and  began  preparations  for  their 
labours.  It  was  arranged  that  Mr.  Noble  should  undertake  a  school, 
while  on  Mr.  Fox  alone  devolved  the  duty  of  preaching, — in  a  city 
of  eighty  thousand  people,  and  among  a  nation  of  ten  millions. 

His  first  care  was  naturally  the  acquisition  of  the  language,  in 
which  he  made  such  progress  by  the  next  summer,  as  to  be  able  to 
commmunicate  some  religious  instruction  to  the  servants  in  his 
house.  The  romantic  feelings  of  which  he  accused  himself  while 
his  mission  was  prospective, — if  they  really  existed,  and  were  not 
rather  brought  to  view  as  something  possible,  to  be  anticipated  and 
vigilantly  repelled, — did  not  long  survive  contact  with  life  in  India. 
Shortly  after  he  was  settled  at  his  work  he  wrote:  "It  is  no  sinecure 
to  be  a  missionary.  I  do  not  mean  anything  regarding  any  work 
I  have  at  present  to  do,  for  my  present  is  just  like  the  work  I  have 
had  in  past  years, — language-learning, — and  our  movements  and 
changes  have  hitherto  prevented  this  from  coming  in  any  sufficient 
quantities  to  prove  a  weight  to  me;  but  I  mean  that  a  missionary 
life  does  not  deliver  me  from  spiritual  trials,  such  as  used  to  beset 
me  of  old.  There  are  just  the  same  temptations  to  indolence  and 
love  of  ease,  which  have  been  my  besetting  sins  all  along;  just  the 
same  reluctance  to  prayer  and  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures;  in  fact, 
I  see  nothing  but  the  grace  of  God  to  prevent  a  missionary  from 
being  as  cold  and  dead  a  Christian  as  ever  vegetated  in  an  English 
parish." — "It  is  one  thing  to  give  up  home,  country,  friends,  &c. ; 
to  be  a  misionary  is  another, — to  take  up  our  cross,  forsake  all,  and 
follow  Christ.  For  that  all  which  is  to  be  forsaken  has  followed  me 
here;  it  is  not  without,  but  within;  a  man  may  travel,  and  yet  not 
bear  his  cross;  all  this  I  knew  and  expected;  now  I  experience  it. 
It  does  not  dishearten  me.  I  never  expected  that  the  being  a  mis- 
sionary was  to  work  any  such  wonderful  change  which  belongs  to 
the  work  of  the  Spirit  alone." 

In  reference  to  some  difficulties  arising  from  the  diffusion  of  traet- 
arian  errors  by  certain  missionaries,  which  the  Church  Missionary 
Society  took  prompt  measures  to  guard  against,  he  wrote:  "I  was 
much  grieved  to  find  that  such  sad  opinions  had  spread  into  the 
missionary  field,  and  I  feel  very  thankful  that  our  society  has  been 


166  HENRY    WATSON    FOX. 

enabled  to  act  so  decisively.  I  have  heard  of  similar  opinions 
among  some  Propagation  Gosjiel  Society  missionaries  in  Bengal, 
who  go  among  the  native  Christians,  telling  them  they  cannot  be 
saved  unless  baptized  by,  and  living  under  the  ministry  of  apostoli- 
cally-descended  episcopal  clergy ;  which  has  often  reminded  me  of 
those  Pharisees  who  came  down  to  Antioch,  requiring  the  converts 
to  be  circumcised.  It  is  evil  enough  at  home,  but  it  appears  to  me 
even  more  destructive  in  missions,  to  set  the  form  before  the  spirit; 
and  futile  must  be  the  attempt  to  win  souls  to  Christ,  by  any  other 
means  than  by  himself" 

Before  Mr.  Fox  had  gained  entire  command  of  the  language,  he 
was  admonished  of  the  uncertainty  of  all  human  purposes  by  a 
decided  prostration  of  health.  His  constitution  was  apparently 
strong  and  his  health  in  England  robust,  but  in  the  exciting  and 
enervating  climate  of  India,  "  the  very  redundancy  and  fulness  of  a 
healthful  temperament,"  his  brother  remarks,  "seems  to  have  proved 
a  bane."  A  nervous  debility  unfitted  him  for  labour,  and  he  was 
advised  to  remove  with  his  wife  and  their  little  son  to  Oolocamund, 
on  the  Neilgherry  hills,  two  hundred  miles  inland,  where  he  enjoyed 
a  salubrious  climate  and  the  most  delightful  and  romantic  sceneiy. 

He  was  accompanied  on  this  journey  by  Mary  Paterson,  an  East 
India  girl,  whose  history  was  afterwards  associated  with  his  most 
pleasing  recollections.  She  was  the  daughter  of  an  English  physi- 
cian, who  on  his  death  left  her  to  the  guardianship  of  Eev.  J.  Tucker, 
of  Madras,  but  before  the  protracted  legal  proceedings  in  the  matter 
were  brought  to  a  close,  her  mother,  a  Teloogoo  woman,  had  brouglit 
her  up  to  the  age  of  fourteen  in  confirmed  heathenism.  Mr.  Tucker 
now  committed  her  to  the  care  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Fox,  who  undertook 
the  arduous  task  of  eradicating  the  effects  of  evil  education,  and 
implanting  the  principles  of  Christianity.  She  was  wild  and  uncouth 
in  her  manners,  slovenly  in  her  habits,  entertained  debasing  notions 
of  religion,  and  it  required  the  most  patient  efibrt  to  subdue  her  to 
better  habits  of  thought  and  behaviour.  But  in  the  course  of  two 
years  they  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  an  entire  transformation, 
and  in  no  long  time  after,  she  gave  delightful  evidence  of  true 
Christian  character.  Great  interest  was  excited  in  all  who  observed 
the  beautiful  development  of  her  mind  under  the  influence  of  judi- 
cious literary  and  spiritual  culture,  when  she  was  suddenly  removed 
by  death,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  to  that  higher  life  for  which  she 
had  been  visibly  maturing. 


nENRY    WATSON    FOX.  167 

After  a  residence  on  the  hills  for  nearly  two  years,  Mr.  Fox 
returned  with  his  family  to  Masulipatam  in  October,  1844,  his  health 
completely  restored,  and  entered  with  ardour  upon  his  ministerial 
labours:  "I  go  out  among  the  people,"  he  writes,  "and  get  a  little 
talk  with  them,  so  lamely  and  poorly  on  my  part  as  to  appear  wholly 
inefficient:  and  the  people  either  dispute  and  oppose,  or  listen  with 
indifference,  and  were  it  my  own  word  I  had  to  tell  them  I  should  soon 
get  out  of  heart;  but  I  know  the  sword  of  God,  clumsily  handled 
though  it  be,  must  reach  the  hearts  of  some  of  them ;  so  I  come  away 
quite  joyfully  from  the  midst  of  the  opposition  or  the  sluggishness." 

It  must  have  required  great  faith  to  maintain  a  stout  heart  in  a 
struggle  so  arduous  and  so  lonely.  In  a  letter  urging  the  need  of 
help,  he  says:  "I  am  alone  in  the  work  of  preaching  and  general 
evangelizing  in  the  town  and  villages:  and  what  can  I  do?  I  am 
lost  and  bewildered  in  the  multitude  of  work." — "There  lies  before 
me  the  crowded  population  of  this  large  town  of  sixty  to  ninety  thou- 
sand inhabitants:  these  are  to  be  preached  to,  to  have  an  impression 
made  on  them.  If  I  go  to  one  part  one  day,  and  to  another  part 
another  day,  my  time  and  labour  are  dissipated.  If  I  keep  myself  to 
one  portion,  my  labour  is  swallowed  up  in  the  great  flood  of  heathen- 
ism: it  is  like  trying  to  clear  a  spot  of  ground  in  the  centre  of  a 
luxuriant  jungle, — the  roots  of  the  surrounding  trees  fill  up  the  spot 
I  am  at  work  on,  faster  than  I  can  clear.  Again,  there  are  the 
villages  in  the  suburbs,  fine  populous  villages.  Again,  there  are  the 
numerous  villages  and  still  more  numerous  hamlets  studding  the 
country  all  round  about.     "Where  to  begin  I  know  not." 

The  labours  of  his  colleagues  in  the  school,  being  directed  con- 
stantly to  a  limited  number,  were  more  encouraging.  The  pupils 
were  making  good  progress  in  their  studies,  and  their  minds,  he 
says,  were  "rapidly  rising  above  the  ordinary  style  of  that  of  the 
natives."  Nor  were  they  without  success  in  more  important  respects. 
"In  the  first  class  are  two  very  nice  young  men,  members  of 
wealthy  and  most  respectable  families,  whose  hearts  seem  much 
touched  with  the  gospel.  The  eldest  of  the  two  is  much  troubled 
with  his  sins,  and  says  he  has  often  risen  at  night,  and  walked  about 
for  hours,  troubled  with  the  sense  of  them.  He  prays,  I  believe. 
He  is  a  peculiarly  amiable,  loving  and  loveable  young  man,  and  I 
feel  for  him  much  of  the  affection  of  a  brother.  Should  it  please 
God  to  convert  him,  he  would  have  much  to  give  up  in  his  family 
and  connections. 


J68  HEXRY    WATSON    FOX. 

"On  the  last  Sunday  of  the  year  I  baptized  our  Ayeh  (nursery 
maid)  in  the  little  native  congregation  meeting  at  Mr.  Noble's  house: 
she  walks  consistently,  and  seems  to  drink  in  with  eagerness  all 
spiritual  truth  we  teach  her.  My  servants,  ten  or  twelve  in  num- 
ber, are  an  interesting  congregation  every  morning;  two  of  them 
are  now  baptized;  about  two  others,  I  feel  much  interest,  hoping 
the  spirit  is  working  in  them,  though  it  is  only  stirring  up  the  mud." 
In  the  spring  of  this  year  he  was  able  to  substitute  preaching  to  a 
small  congregation  for  discursive  "essays  to  do  good"  in  the  streets 
and  bazars.  "A  regular  in-door  meeting,"  he  says,  "is  much  more 
suitable  for  instruction.  I  shall  now  be  as  it  were  in  the  school  of 
one  Tyrannus,  alias  disputing  weekly  in  the  house  of  one  Lewis.  I 
begin  to  understand  St.  Paul  better,  in  his  requests,  that  his  friends 
would  pray  for  him: — 1st,  That  a  door  might  be  opened  for  him; 
2d,  That  utterance  might  be  given  him ;  and  8d,  That  he  might  be 
enabled  to  speak  boldly  the  mysteries  of  the  gospel." 

To  his  brother  Eobert,  in  prospect  of  ordination,  he  wrote  an 
earnest  letter,  July  9,  stirring  him  up  to  activity  in  his  profession; 
"It  is  no  lioht  or  shallow  matter  to  be  a  soldier  of  Christ;  the  cross 
taken  up  daily,  the  sturdy  bending  of  the  whole  man  into  the  one 
object  of  the  glory  of  God;  the  viewing  the  unseen  world  of  God, 
(not  of  philosophy)  instead  of  the  visible  things  of  time.  This 
cannot  be  a  shallow  matter,  it  must  be  deep  or  not  at  all;  Christ 
altogether  or  not  at  all;  no  halves,  no  'dilettanti'  work  in  such  a 
business  as  this;  and  yet  how  many  hang  about,  calling  themselves 
earnest  Christians,  taking  up  the  profession,  and  in  some  measure 
the  approbation  of  Christ's  service,  and  yet  are  never  heart-worship- 
pers at  all;  never  get  beyond  the  approval  of  reason  or  the  likings 
of  the  mouth." — "  When  it  pleases  God  to  make  you  a  minister,  you 
must  be  just  like  an  Oxford  eight-oar  at  the  races: — up  to  now  you 
have  been  waiting,  training,  and  are  ready  to  start,  but  the  moment 
you  are  started  you  must  be  off,  straining  every  nerve  in  your 
work  till  the  end.  A  minister  is  never  off  duty." — "Be  a  working 
clergyman;  you  have  been  long  preparing;  now  work,  work,  work, 
for  the  salvation  of  souls,  for  the  extending  of  Christ's  kingdom; 
water  your  own  field  first,  then  every  body  else's." 

An  all-wdse  Providence  sviddenly  interrupted  his  own  whole- 
hearted, never-resting  work.  In  the  autumn  of  1845  the  health  of 
Mrs.  Fox  so  rapidly  declined  that  a  change  of  climate  appeared 


HENRY    WATSON    FOX.  169 

indispensable.  He  accompanied  her  to  Madras  to  arrange  for  her 
departure  to  England,  Avith  the  intention  of  himself  return  nig  to  his 
station.  But  in  the  opinion  of  their  medical  advisers  the  probability 
of  her  recovery  under  the  most  favourable  conditions  of  climate 
were  so  slight,  that  he  decided  to  embark  with  her.  She  was  con- 
veyed on  board  ship  in  the  evening  of  the  30th  of  October,  intend- 
ing to  sail  the  next  day ; — but  before  sail  was  set  for  the  voyage  she 
had  entered  a  more  secure  haven ;  she  died  suddenly  from  the  burst- 
ing of  an  abscess  in  the  liver,  causing  suffocation.  Thus  early  was 
she  removed  from  a  work  on  which  her  affections  were  most  strongly 
fixed,  and  in  which  she  had  been  greatly  useful,  leaving  a  husband 
afflicted  in  no  common  measure,  and  three  orphaned  children,  the 
objects  of  her  wise  and  affectionate  care. 

After  the  burial  of  his  wife  at  Madras,  Mr.  Fox  and  his  family 
pursued  their  desolate  voyage.  The  youngest  of  the  children  soon 
sickened  and  died,  and  was  buried  at  Cuddalore,  where  the  vessel 
put  in  for  that  purpose.  These  repeated  blows  came  heavily  upon 
the  father's  heart,  the  more  because  there  was  no  one  on  ship  board 
to  whom  he  could  utter  his  feelings.  Bufthis  very  circumstance  was 
for  his  good.  It  drove  him  more  exclusively  to  that  Friend  whose 
sympathy  is  all-sufficient,  and  so  fully  was  divine  consolation 
imparted,  so  greatly  was  affliction  sanctified  to  his  spiritual  profit, 
that  under  the  utmost  pressure  of  grief  he  could  feel  the  impulses 
of  a  pro  founder  gratitude.  "I  do  thank  Him,"  he  wrote,  "for  my 
own  sake,  that  he  has  laid  this  burden  upon  me;  in  very  faithful- 
ness he  has  afflicted  me,  and  for  my  own  sake  I  am  unable  to  wish 
that  this  sorrow  had  not  come;  for  I  could  not  without  it  have  had 
such  experience  of  Christ's  tender  love,  of  his  powerful  support  and 
rich  consolations.  I  do  not  know  how  those  who  are  without  Christ 
can  go  through  such  a  sorrow:  it  seems  to  me  as  if  it  would  have 
driven  me  out  of  my  senses  at  times,  if  I  had  not  had,  not  onlv  the 
comfort  of  divine  truth  in  my  mind,  but  the  strength  of  Christ  '^iven 
me  immediately  from  himself"  During  the  voyage  he  laboured 
actively  for  the  religious  benefit  of  his  fellow-voyagers,  and  had  the 
delightful  evidence  that  with  respect  to  some  his  efforts  were  not 
in  vain. 

He  remained  in  England  six  months,  during  which  time  he  exerted 
himself  by  every  means  in  his  power  to  awaken  an  interest  in  his 
field  of  labour,  and  particularly  to  obtain  an  increase  of  missiona- 
ries.    He  was  indefatigable  in  urging  personally  on  j^oung  men  at 


170  HENRY    WATSON    FOX. 

the  universities  tlie  duty  of  consecrating  themselves  to  the  vi^orlc. 
Tn  this  he  found  much  to  discourage,  few  ready  to  respond  as  he 
desired  to  his  appeals,  but  he  left  no  means  untried  to  effect  some- 
thing for  India.  As  the  time  approached  for  his  return,  the  thought 
of  parting  from  his  two  children  was  very  bitter  to  his  soul;  but  he 
was  able,  with  a  good  degree  of  cheerfulness,  to  leave  them,  under 
Providence,  to  the  same  faithful  guardianship  to  which  his  own 
childhood  was  so  largely  indebted;  and  on  October  20th,  1816,  he 
took  passage  at  Southampton,  in  the  Ripon  steamer  for  Madras,  by 
the  "overland"  route.  He  arrived  at  Ceylon  on  the  6th  and  at 
Madras  on  the  10th  of  December. 

His  return  to  these  too-well-remembered  scenes,  and  the  entrance 
on  his  work  with  all  of  earth  that  he  most  prized  at  such  a  distance 
from  him,  brought  a  fresh  trial  to  his  spirit,  but  we  soon  see  him 
surrendering  all  his  powers  to  the  ministry  in  which  his  soul 
delighted.  His  journal  for  the  following  year  shows  him  in  the  most 
active  exercise  of  his  powers,  proclaiming  the  truth  at  all  times  and 
in  all  places,  in  season  and  out  of  season,  wherever  he  could  find 
ears  to  hear.  To  cavilling  brahmins  who  pertinaciously  denied  first 
principles,  to  besotted  sensualists,  to  the  worldly  and  indifferent,  he 
daily  proclaimed  the  words  of  eternal  life.  At  heathen  festivals,  in 
the  streets  of  cities,  in  the  numerous  villages  scattered  through  the 
country,  he  spoke  boldly  and  hopefully,  against  opposition,  which 
grieved,  but  could  not  discourage  him. 

When  first  setting  out  as  a  missionary,  he  felicitated  himself  on 
the  prospect  of  being  "a  pioneer  in  a  land  in  which  he  hoped  and 
believed  the  Christian  church  will  hereafter  be  triumphant."  A 
change  took  place  in  his  views,  and  during  this  period  of  his  work 
his  letters  show  that  he  had  adopted  the  millenarian  doctrine,  that 
the  setting  up  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth  is  to  be  by  his 
personal  coming  and  reign.  Bat  this  did  not  slacken,  it  rather 
increased  his  activity,  for  he  held  that  before  that  event  can  take 
place  the  gospel  must  be  preached  to  all  nations.  He  writes:  "I 
think  I  have,  for  the  last  two  or  three  years  past,  at  least,  ceased  to 
expect,  as  unauthorized  by  the  prophecies,  an  universal  or  general 
conversion  of  the  nations  to  Christ.  Some  may  become  professedly 
so  or  not,  but  one  object  of  a  missionary  is  to  be  engaged  in  calling 
Christ's  sheep  out  of  this  naughty  world  and  gathering  them  together 
to  wait  for  him.  But  ray  strong  motive  of  late,  has  been  the  prom- 
ise, that  when  the  gospel  has  been  ineaclied  (it  does  not  say  received 


HENRY    WATSON    FOX.  171 

or  not)  among  all  nations,  then  shall  the  end  come :  so  that  when  I 
go  and  tell  the  people  of  Christ,— Avhether  they  listen  or  not, — one 
of  the  two  grand  objects  of  my  mission  is  already  completed."  The 
other  object, — the  conversion  of  individual  souls, — was  fulfilled  to 
a  limited  extent:  a  few  cases  afforded  him  a  present  reward. 
Though  he  sowed  the  good  seed  mainly  with  the  hope  of  its  future 
germination,  he  was  permitted  to  gather  some  of  the  first  fruits. 

What  he  might  have  accomplished,  had  he  been  spared  to  con- 
tinue through  many  years  of  activity  in  India,  cannot  be  conjectured. 
But  his  time  was  short.  Like  him  whose  brief  and  brilliant  career 
stirred  within  him  his  first  desires  of  missionary  work,  he  was  early- 
withdrawn  from  it.  But,  unlike  Martyn,  he  was  privileged  to  end 
his  days  among  his  kindred,  and  to  find  a  grave  where  he  had  been 
early  taught  the  resurrection  and  the  life. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  year  1847  he  was  reduced  by  repeated 
attacks  of  dysentery,  which  compelled  him  to  try  the  sea  air.  He 
sailed  along  the  coast,  but  without  material  improvement,  and  on 
repairing  to  Madras  was  decidedly  advised  by  physicians  that  he 
could  not  endure  the  climate  of  India,  and  must  resign  all  further 
prospect  of  missionary  labour.  The  disappointment  was  extreme, 
and  he  often  spoke  of  it  as  the  sorest  trial  of  his  life,  but  there  was 
no  alternative,  and  he  submitted  himself  to  the  divine  disposal.  He 
arrived  in  England  in  March,  1848,  just  in  time  to  witness  the 
peaceful  close  of  his  father's  life.  He  revisited  his  college,  but  the 
beauty  and  interest  of  those  long-remembered  scenes  did  not  minis- 
ter to  his  enjoyment.  "  They  make  me  think,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister, 
"of  all  that  has  passed  since — my  five  years  with  dear  Elizabeth,  and 
my  missionary  life  in  India;  and  till  I  go  down  to  the  grave  myself, 
and  till  I  am  called  away  from  all  work  on  earth,  these  two  recollec- 
tions cannot  but  contain  much  that  is  bitter.  My  cessation  from 
missionary  work  is  still  a  fresh  grief,  and  at  times  it  is  very  hard  to 
bear;  I  knew  it  would  be  a  trial,  but  I  did  not  know  how  great  a 
one,  and  sometimes  I  begin  to  think  of  going  back  again,  but  am 
checked  by  the  strong  assurance  that  I  have,  that  I  should  return 
to  India, — but  not  to  active  work.  How  little  do  men  know  the 
real  state  of  the  case,  when  they  think  that  the  trial  consists  of  going 
to  be  a  missionary !  for  with  all  its  palliations  of  returning  to  Eng- 
land— to  home,  friends,  family,  and  children — it  is  the  coming  from 
being  a  missionary  which  is  the  real  sorrow:  and  beautiful  as  are 


172  HENRY    WATSON    FOX. 

our  green  fields  and  hedge-rows,  they  make  me  sigh  to  be  back  at 
dear  Bunder,  even  in  the  midst  of  this  burning  May." 

His  lieakh  was  rapidl}^  restored,  and  he  began  to  consider  in  what 
way  he  could  be  useful  in  England,  The  Church  Missionary  Society 
offered  him  the  post  of  assistant  Secretarj'^,  which  was  so  congenial 
to  his  feelings  from  its  relation  to  the  cause  he  had  most  at  heart, 
that  he  promptly  accepted  it,  and  entered  on  its  duties  with  an  energy 
that  excited  the  best  hopes  in  the  friends  of  the  society,  but  which 
proved  too  great  for  his  strength.  It  was  a  time  of  unusual  interest, 
— the  jubilee  of  the  society  was  to  be  celebrated  on  the  first  of 
November,  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  its  formation.  To  this  occasion 
he  looked  forward  with  lively  satisfaction,  but  before  it  arrived  he 
was  not, — for  God  took  him.  A  relapse  of  his  Indian  complaint 
arrested  his  labours,  and  he  visited  Durham  in  September  to  gain  a 
few  weeks  of  recreation.  He  reached  home  on  the  1-lth  in  a  feeble 
condition,  but  notwithstanding  officiated  twice  on  the  ensuing  Sab- 
bath at  South  Shields,  addressed  a  missionary  meeting  on  Monday 
at  Bishop  Wearmouth,  and  another  on  Tuesday  evening  at  Durham. 
Though  much  weakened,  no  danger  was  apprehended,  but  the  ensu- 
ing two  days  he  kept  his  room,  and  thenceforth  his  bed.  He  grad- 
ually sunk  under  his  disease,  and  after  lingering  for  nearly  three 
weeks,  in  near  prospect  of  eternity,  and  with  increasing  desire  to 
depart,  giving  full  testimony  of  hope  and  joy,  of  unshaken  faith 
and  patience, 

"Life  so  gently  ceased  to  be, 
It  lapsed  in  immortality." 

It  was  a  blessed  end  of  a  life  such  as  it  is  not  often  given  to  human 
pens  to  record: — an  eminently  useful  life;  but  if  it  had  accomplished 
less  by  direct  action,  the  example  of  so  pure,  and  noble,  so  simple, 
ingenuous  and  unselfish  a  character,  would  still  have  been  by  itself 
an  invaluable  bequest  to  the  world.  In  the  most  emphatic  sense  of 
a  word  not  to  be  lightly  uttered,  he  was  a  godly  man.  The  aim,  and 
the  consummation,  of  his  earthly  existence  was,  "to  glorify  God 
and  ENJOY  Him  for  ever." 


XSa  JLILoB, 


THOMAS    COKE. 


Thomas  Coke,  whose  name  is  identified  with  the  early  progress 
of  Weslejan  Methodism  in  England  and  America,  and  with  the 
foundation  of  several  of  the  missions  that  have  been  so  efiicientlj 
sustained  by  that  large  and  growing  communion,  was  born  at  Bre- 
con, in  Wales,  September  9.  1747.  His  father,  an  eminent  surgeon, 
died  in  his  son's  infancy,  leaving  his  education  to  the  care  of  his 
mother,  by  whom  he  was  j^laced  at  a  suitable  age  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  Rev.  Mr.  Griffiths,  master  of  the  grammar  school  at  Brecon. 

At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  was  entered  at  Jesus  College,  Oxford. 
Here  he  was  exposed  to  the  companionship  of  persons  who  openl}^ 
professed  infidelity,  and  signalized  their  skepticism  by  all  that  licen- 
tiousness of  manners  which  is  its  natural  fruit.  Unhappilj''  his 
early  training  had  not  been  such  as  to  fortify  his  mind  against  their 
sophistrj^  or  his  heart  against  their  vicious  seductions.  He  had  a 
general,  traditionary  belief  in  the  divinity  of  the  Christian  faith,  and 
the  doctrine  of  a  superintending  Providence,  but  of  the  grounds  or 
the  extent  of  that  faith  and  its  demands  upon  the  conscience,  he 
had  no  very  definite  notions.  His  moral  training  had  been  by  no 
means  rigid.  Though  not  profligate  or  offensively  dissolute,  he  was 
habitually  gay  and  careless,  and  strongly  addicted  to  dissipating 
amusements,  in  which  his  fine  person  and  attractive  demeanour 
made  him  a  leader.  He  now  gradually  yielded  to  the  evil  influences 
of  his  associates,  and  while  preserved  from  the  grosser  forms  of 
vice,  his  principles, — if  such  vague  impressions  as  he  brought  with 
him  to  Oxford,  deserve  the  name, — were  overcome  by  a  skepticism 
that  even  began  to  question  the  existence  of  God. 

In  this  condition  his  conscience,  though  unenlightened,  yet  not 
wholly  stupefied,  would  not  suffer  him  to  remain.  The  hearing  of 
a  sermon  from  a  respectable  clergyman  in  Wales  gave  new  force 
to  his  misgivings.  The  preacher,  on  being  spoken  with,  avowed  to 
young  Coke  that  he  did  not  believe  a  word  of  the  doctrines  he 
defended,  a  confession  of  hypocrisy,  that  moved  his  contempt  with- 
out at  all  shaking  his  purpose  of  serious  inquiry.     The  discourses 


174  THOMAS    COKE. 

of  Bishop  Slierlock  dissipated  his  doubts.  From  a  conviction  of 
the  truth,  he  set  himself  to  studying  the  doctrines  of  Christianity, 
and  a  treatise  of  Dr.  AVitherspoon  on  regeneration  inclined  him  to 
the  evangelical  scheme.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  he  turned 
away  from  his  former  companions.  He  led  a  serious  and  studious 
life,  with  a  resolution  to  devote  himself  to  the  ministry. 

On  leaving  the  university  he  was  chosen,  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one,  common  councilman  in  the  borough  of  Brecon,  and  at  the  age 
of  twenty-five  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  municipality,  discharg- 
ing the  duties  of  the  ofiice  with  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  people.  Brecon  is  a  parliamentar}^  borough,  returning 
one  member  of  the  House  of  Commons.  At  this  time,  and  till  the 
passage  of  the  Reform  Act  in  1832,  the  privilege  of  election  was 
vested  in  eleven  burgesses,  ai'd  Mr.  Coke's  official  position  gave 
him  great  influence  in  disposing  of  the  seat.  An  election  now 
taking  place,  the  successful  candidate  promised  Mr.  Coke,  as  a  proof 
of  his  gratitude,  a  prebend  in  Worcester  cathedral,  or  other  valua- 
ble preferment  in  the  church.  Similar  encouragement  was  given  by 
a  person  of  rank ;  but  he  had  abundant  leisure  to  reflect  on  the  value 
of  political  promises.  After  amusing  himself  with  these  flatter- 
ing assurances  for  three  years,  he  obtained  the  curacy  of  South 
Petherton,  in  Somersetshire,  and  in  1775  took  his  degree  as  Doctor 
in  the  Civil  Law,  at  Oxford. 

The  period  during  which  he  waited  on  the  great  for  spiritual 
promotion  was  not,  as  may  be  imagined,  marked  by  any  decisive 
religious  progress.  Content  to  be  an  evangelical  Christian  in  theory, 
and  a  moral  man  in  practice,  he  glided  along  with  the  stream  of 
quiet  worldliness.  He  Avas  in  that  very  common  state,  in  which 
'"truths,"  to  borrow  the  expressive  words  of  Coleridge,  "the  most 
awful  and  mysterious,  come  to  be  considered  as  so  true,  that  they 
lose  all  the  powers  of  truth,  and  lie  bed-ridden  in  the  dormitory  of 
the  soul,  side  by  side  with  the  most  despised  and  exploded  errors." 
Satisfied  with  the  soundness  of  his  creed  and  the  uprightness  of  his 
conduct,  no  question  as  to  his  personal  religious  duty  agitated  his 
conscience. 

He  began  his  ministry  at  Petherton  as  might  have  been  expected. 
The  doctrines  of  Christianity  were  proclaimed  in  his  discourses,  in  a 
manner  combining  general  soundness  of  statement  with  the  earnest- 
ness of  sincere  conviction.  Large  congregations  were  attracted  to 
his  church,  to  hear  preaching  so  much  more  animated  than  they 


THOMAS    COKE.  175 

vz-ere  acciTstomed  to.  It  was  not  possible,  however,  that  he  shouhl 
give  diligent  study  to  truths  so  weighty,  without  gaining  wider 
views  of  their  relations,  and  feeling  their  pressure  on  his  conscience. 
lie  found  the  need  of  a  more  thorough  conformity  of  his  heart  to 
the  doctrines  that  engaged  his  mind.  As  his  impressions  deepened, 
tlie  fervour  of  his  preaching  increased,  and  ^\•ith  it  his  congregation, 
till  the  church  was  insufficient  to  contain  all  who  flocked  to  hear 
him.  He  requested  the  parish  to  erect  galleries  for  their  accommo- 
dation, but  being  refused,  provided  them  at  his  own  cost.  This  act 
was  thought  sufficient  to  confirm  the  suspicion  already  started,  that 
Dr.  Coke  was  a  "methodist," — a  word  used  extensively  in  England 
as  a  cant  term  to  describe  all  zealous  evangelical  Christians,  and 
not,  as  in  this  country,  restricted  to  a  particular  sect.* 

*  Tlie  term  "Methodist,"  when  used  without  qualification — especially  by  writers 
not  aspiring  to  technical  accuracy — has  in  England  this  wide  significance;  and  when 
applied  to  the  sect  founded  by  Mr.  Wesley  is  limited  by  the  prefixing  the  title 
"  Wesley.an."  The  distinction  is  not  unimportant,  for  too  many  in  this  country, 
from  not  comprehending  it,  imagine  that  every  thing  that  is  said  in  the  popular  litei-- 
ature  of  England  about  Methodists  is  aimed  at  a  single  denomination.  The  famous 
articles  of  Rev.  Sydney  Smith  on  Methodism, — so  exquisitely  witty,  that  the  sterneit 
religionist  must  perforce  relax  his  fociah  muscles  in  their  perusal,  but  so  unjust,  that 
in  their  composition  the  author  satirized  himself  worse  than  the  humblest  object  of 
his  ridiL-ule, — are  every  year  quoted,  even  by  well-informed  writers,  as  referring  spe- 
cially to  the  Wesleyan  Methodists.  But  he  himself  defines  the  term  as  including 
both  Cahinistic  and  Arminian  Methodists,  and  the  evangelical  portion  of  the  Churck 
of  England.  The  same  comprehensive  term  he  applied  to  Baptists.  The  best  com- 
ment on  tlie  scoffing  of  this  popular  writer  is  to  be  found  in  the  splendid  eulogy 
upon  the  same  "patent  Christians,"  published  in  the  same  Review  a  few  years  since, 
from  the  pen  of  Sir  J.  Stephen. 

Perhaps  we  have  no  riglit  to  be  surprised  at  the  contempt  of  many  Englishmen  in 
high  life  for  all  dissenters,  of  whom  they  know  little  more  than  they  do'  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  moon,  granting  to  tliat  satellite  the  possession  of  any  inhabitants. 
Because  the  universities  are  closed  against  non-conformists,  such  men  seem  to  think 
that  the  excluded  sectaries  are  absolutely  cut  off  from  all  access  of  knowledge.  The 
clerical  wit  just  quoted,  in  all  his  writings,  never  alludes  to  dissenting  preaclicrs, 
except  as  coarse  and  ignorant  men.  As  late  as  1829,  Lord  Eldon,  when  taunted 
with  the  presentation  of  petitions  to  the  House  of  Lords  from  the  Wesleyans  of 
Newcastle,  replied  that  from  reading  the  provincial  papers,  "he  had  been  as^tonished 
at  the  ability  and  knowledge  manifested  by  the  ministers  of  the  Wesley.an  Method- 
ists!" His  lordship  seems  never  before  to  have  conceived  of  dissenting  ministers 
able  to  speak  and  write  English  with  propriety.  The  late  learned  and  excellent  Dr. 
Arnold  sometimes  shows  the  same  species  of  ignorance.  He  repeatedly  laments 
that  the  office  of  Deacon,  as,  in  his  view  of  the  New-Testament,  originally  estab- 
lished, has  been  wholly  lost.     He  might  have  found,  we  presume,  in  the  town  of 


176  THOMAS    COKE. 

Those  who  were  so  swift  to  briiiG;  this  accusation  had  httle  fore- 
sight  of  the  consequences.  The  rumour  spread  till  it  reached  the 
ears  of  a  Wesleyan  preacher  in  the  neighbourhood,  who  sought  the 
acquaintance  of  Dr.  Coke,  and  in  successive  interviews  did  much  to 
enlighten  his  mind  on  the  subject  of  his  earnest  inquiries.  Another 
dissenter  was  of  similar  service.  The  reading  of  AUeine's  Alarm 
increased  his  anxiety,  which  did  not  subside  till  he  was  led  to  a  hearty 
dedication  of  his  affections  and  a  subjection  of  his  purposes  to  the 
truths  that  had  not  heretofore  penetrated  deeper  than  the  percep- 
tions of  the  natural  understanding. 

No  sooner  had  be  become  partaker  of  the  peace  that  waits  on 
simple  faith,  than  he  began  to  preach  with  increased  power.  As  his 
parish  was  large,  he  set  up  evening  meetings  for  the  accommodation 
of  those  unable  to  appear  regularly  at  church.  Not  being  able  to 
restrain  the  fervour  of  his  thoughts  within  the  limits  of  closet  elo- 
quence, he  commenced  the  practice  of  extemporaneous  preaching. 
These  proceedings,  together  with  the  introduction  of  hymns  into 
the  church  service,  dissatisfied  the  genteel  part  of  his  people,  and 
excited  the  displeasure  of  neighbouring  clergymen,  a  little  sharpened, 
perhaps,  by  his  drawing  away  many  of  their  hearers.  Add  to  this 
the  shrinking  of  both  the  self-righteous  and  the  profane  at  his  direct 
application  of  unwelcome  truth  to  their  consciences,  and  it  is  no 
matter  of  surprise  that  opposition  was  excited.  Application  was 
made  by  the  disaffected  to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  but  he  declined, 
for  prudential  reasons,  meddling  with  the  doctor.  The  Bishop  of 
Bath  and  Wells  was  next  appealed  to,  but  he  contented  himself 
with  a  letter  of  admonition.  There  was  still  another  and  a  fmal 
power  to  be  invoked.  Dr.  Coke  was  but  a  curate,  serving  during 
the  pleasure  of  the  Rector.  He,  upon  complaint  of  the  dissatisfied 
parishioners,  promptly  dismissed  the  "methodist"  from  his  pulpit. 

By  this  act  Dr.  Coke  found  himself  in  a  doubtful  position.  Hav- 
ing a  comfortable  estate,  he  was  under  no  compulsion  to  preach  for 

Rugby,  among  his  dissenting  neighbours,  just  such  deacons  as  he  supposed  the  New- 
Testament  to  describe,  judging  from  the  hints  on  that  point  in  his  correspondence. 
So  Mr.  Ruskin,  whose  works  on  art  have  made  so  strong  an  impression,  has  elabo- 
rated some  essays  on  the  constitution  of  the  church,  and  seems  to  suppose  himself 
a  discoverer  of  new  truths.  But  his  most  essential  principles — wlicther  true  or 
false — have  been  clearly  apprehended,  ably  defended,  and  put  in  actual  practice  by 
different  dissenting  bodies  in  England  for  more  than  a  century  and  a  half.  Other 
specimens  might  be  given,  hud  not  this  digression  been  already  carried  to  an 
extreme  length. 


THOMAS    COKE.  177 

a  livelihood,  and  thougli  encouraged  as  before  to  look  for  preferment 
in  the  established  church,  he  indulged  no  sanguine  expectations  of 
it.  While  waiting  to  discern  the  will  of  Providence  in  relation  to 
his  course,  he  fell  into  the  company  of  Mr.  Wesley,  at  Taunton. 
From  him  he  gained  a  knowledge  of  the  polity  of  Methodism;  he 
had  already  imbibed  the  theological  opinions  maintained  in  that 
connection;  and  in  no  long  time  he  came  to  the  conclusion  to  cast 
in  his  lot  with  them. 

He  first  attended  the  Methodist  Conference  in  1777,  at  Bristol, 
and  was  designated  to  labour  in  London.  The  story  of  his  conver- 
sion and  of  his  dismissal  from  Petherton  had  spread  widelj',  and 
caused  great  expectation  among  the  Wesleyans  in  the  metropolis. 
His  place  of  wonship  was  crowded  beyond  its  capacity,  and  he 
preached  frequently  in  the  open  air.  His  ministry  was  not  only 
popular,  but  eminently  useful.  In  1780,  he  was  appointed  to  pre- 
side over  the  London  circuit,  and  about  the  same  time  undertook 
to  assist  Mr.  Wesley  in  his  itinerant  labours.  It  had  been  Mr. 
Wesley's  rule  to  visit  annually  all  his  societies,  but  their  great 
increase  made  this  impracticable.  He  therefore  appointed  Dr.  Coke 
to  visit  those  in  Ireland  alternately  with  himself,  and  to  make  such 
visitations  in  England  as  his  convenience  would  admit.  This  ser- 
vice was  undertaken  about  the  year  1780,  from  which  period  till 
his  death  Dr.  Coke  was  almost  continually  travelling,  by  land  or 
v/ater,  planting  or  superintending  the  numerous  stations  from  which 
the  light  of  piety  was  radiated  into  the  surrounding  regions.  In  this 
work,  particularly  in  England  and  America,  his  proceedings  were 
subjected  to  frequent  criticism,  and  he  was  charged  with  claiming 
and  exercising  undue  authority.  The  large  discretion  to  which  he 
felt  himself  entitled  as  Mr.  Wesley's  personal  representative,  cer- 
tainly gave  him  scope  for  excesses  in  this  direction,  and  the  warmth 
and  energy  of  his  nature  may  have  rendered  him  liable  to  trans- 
gress now  and  then  the  limits  which  a  scrupulous  sense  of  propriety 
Vv'ould  have  imposed  on  minds  differently  constituted;  but  by  the 
lapse  of  time  the  question  has  lost  much  of  the  interest  that  once 
surrounded  it. 

The  establishment  of  Wesleyan  societies  in  America  was  com- 
menced about  the  year  1767,  and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
revolutionary  war  they  numbered  some  thousands  of  members. 
Unfortunately  Mr.  Wesley  felt  called  upon  to  publish  an  address 
condemnatory  of  the  colonists,  and  his  preachers,  with  nearly  the 
12 


178  THOMAS    COKE. 

Bole  exception  of  Mr.  Asburj,  echoed  his  political  as  well  as  theo- 
logical doctrines.  They  were  compelled,  of  course,  to  withdraw 
from  the  country,  and  Mr.  Asbury  alone  remained  to  keep  alive  the 
interests  commended  to  his  care.  The  independence  of  the  United 
States  severed  the  Episcopal  churches  from  the  church  of  England, 
and  as  Mr.  Wesley  had  never  contemplated  or  encouraged  dissent 
from  that  communion,  his  followers  were  left  without  the  ordinances 
of  the  church,  or  any  recognised  authority  to  ordain  ministers.  In 
this  emergency,  to  prevent  the  societies  from  being  dissolved,  some 
decisive  action  was  needed.  Upon  careful  study,  he  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  exclusive  claims  of  diocesan  episcopacy  were  not 
warranted  by  the  Scriptures  or  by  authentic  church  history;  and 
calling  to  his  aid  some  of  his  associates,  who  were  like  himself  pres- 
byters of  the  Church  of  England,  he  set  apart  Dr.  Coke  by  the 
imposition  of  hands  as  a  superintendent  of  his  societies  in  America, 
and  gave  to  him  and  to  Mr.  Asbury  jointly  a  commission  under  his 
hand  and  seal  to  exercise  episcopal  authority.* 

Acting  under  this  commission.  Dr.  Coke  proceeded  to  the  United 
States,  informed  Mr,  x\sbury  of  the  steps  taken  by  Mr.  Wesley, 
secured  his  cooperation  in  the  enterprise  of  organizing  the  church, 
and  summoned  a  conference  for  this  purpose  at  Baltimore  on  Christ- 
mas eve,  1784.  By  this  conference  the  plan  proposed  was  ratified, 
and  Dr.  Coke  proceeded  to  the  ordination  of  his  colleague  as  bishop, 
and  to  the  ordering  of  presbyters  and  deacons.  To  vindicate  his 
course  he  preached  a  sermon,  which  was  published,  and  excited  an 
unpleasant  controversy.  Charles  Wesley  disapproved  the  assump- 
tion of  power  on  the  part  of  his  brother,  with  whom  he  had  heartily 
cooperated,  but  chose  to  attack  him  indirectly  through  Dr.  Coke. 
A  pamphlet  embodying  severe  strictures  on  the  doctor's  sermon  is 
commonly  attributed  to  his  pen.f  The  two  bishops  also  addressed 
General  Washington  in  the  name  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
professing  their  loyalty  to  the  United  States.  This  step,  so  appro- 
priate in  itself,  was  rather  unreasonably  treated  by  Mr.  Wesley  as 
an  unwarrantable  impeachment  of  his  political  opinions,  as  if  Dr. 

*  We  .are  aware  that  Mr.  Wesley  made  some  objection  to  the  assumption  by  Mr. 
Asbury  of  the  title  of  bishop;  but  as  he  sanctioned  the  office,  the  name  is  of  little 
moment, — or,  rather,  it  seems  most  proper  to  employ — as  we  have  chosen  to  do — 
the  name  which  by  general  usage,  as  well  as  by  that  of  the  Methodist  churcii  in  this 
fountry,  is  regarded  as  descriptive  of  the  office. 

f  Drew's  Life  of  Coke,  chapter  vi. 


THOMAS    COKE.  17^ 

Coke  was  not  entitled  to  have  any  opinions, — or  as  if  any  opinion 
on  the  propriety  of  the  revolution  could  impair  the  duty  of  loyalty 
to  a  government  whose  independence  was  acknowledged  by  the 
British  crown. 

The  emigration  of  loyalists  from  the  United  States  to  Nova  Sco- 
tia, with  a  considerable  number  of  negroes  who  were  declared  free, 
called  for  the  sending  of  preachers  to  that  province,  and  two  were 
despatched  thither  by  Dr.  Coke  as  soon  as  circumstances  would 
admit.  He  also  collected  money  for  founding  a  college  about  twenty- 
five  miles  from  Baltimore,  which  was  opened  in  1787  by  the  name 
of  Cokesbury  college.  It  flourished  about  five  years,  when  the 
building  was  destroyed  by  fire,  and  as  the  institution  was  not  incor- 
porated, it  had  no  basis  for  permanent  duration.  It  was  opened 
again  in  a  building  procured  for  the  purpose  in  Baltimore,  but  a 
second  conflagration  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the  enterprise. 

Dr.  Coke's  first  visit  to  this  country  terminated  in  June,  1785. 
After  travelling  extensively,  meeting  with  many  perils  in  his  jour- 
ney, including  the  vindictive  opposition  of  men  to  his  religious 
enterprise,  and  having  laid  durable  foundations  for  the  growth  and 
prosperity  of  the  church,  he  embarked  for  England.  lie  met  with 
an  equivocal  reception  from  Mr.  Wesley,  and  his  name  was  omitted 
from  the  minutes  of  conference  for  one  year,  but  he  seems  to  have 
acted  with  Mr.  Wesley  very  much  as  before.  During  his  sojourn 
in  America  his  thoughts  had  been  turned  toward  the  establishment 
of  missions  in  Asia,  but  the  enterprise  appeared  impracticable,  and 
was  deferred  to  a  more  propitious  season.  He  therefore  continued 
his  labours  in  different  parts  of  Great  Britain,  and  in  1786  established 
a  Methodist  Society  on  the  island  of  Guernsey. 

Meanwhile,  the  necessities  of  Nova  Scotia,  which  had  been  only 
partially  met,  occupied  his  attention,  and  he  made  collections  with 
a  view  to  a  more  complete  suppl3^  He  secured  the  services  of  three 
preachers,  with  whom  he  prepared  to  sail  a  second  time  for  America. 
They  embarked  at  Gravesend  on  the  24th  of  September,  1786,  but 
were  tossed  by  an  adverse  storm  that  nearly  wrecked  them,  till  the 
oOth,  when  they  took  shelter  at  St.  Helen's.  The  continuance  of 
the  storm  detained  them  on  the  coast  four  or  five  days.  Resuming 
their  voyage,  they  got  off  the  Land's  End  on  the  14th  of  October, 
and  encouraged  themselves  with  the  hope  of  a  comfortable  passage; 
but  on  tlie  17th,  they  discovered  a  leak  which  could  not  be  repaired 
at  sea,  but  in  such  a  part  of  the  vessel  that  in  favourable  weather  it 


180  THOMAS    COKE. 

did  not  much  endanger  them.  Favourable  weather,  however,  was 
denied  them.  A  furious  tempest  set  upon  them,  which  had  nearly 
proved  the  destruction  of  the  vessel,  and  compelled  the  master  to 
direct  his  course  for  the  West  Indies.  After  almost  unprecedented 
perils,  they  came  to  anchor  in  the  harbour  of  Antigua,  December  25, 
and  by  this  providential  deviation  from  his  phins  Dr.  Coke  was 
made  the  instrument  of  establishing  the  Wesleyan  Missions  in  those 
islands,  building,  however,  on  the  foundation  laid  by  two  laborious 
pioneers. 

About  twenty-six  years  previous,  the  gospel  had  been  proclaimed 
in  Antigua  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  Gilbert,  a  magistrate  of  the  colony, 
who  had  been  brought  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth  from  the  preach- 
ing of  Mr.  Wesley,  By  his  labours  a  society  of  about  two  hundred 
persons,  chiefly  negroes,  was  gathered,  but  his  death  left  them  Avith- 
out  a  teacher,  and  they  were  much  scattered,  some  of  them  returning 
to  the  ways  of  sin.  In  1778  Mr.  Baxter,  a  shipwright,  renewed  the 
work,  and  in  1783  a  chapel  was  erected  for  their  worship,  and  on 
the  arrival  of  Dr.  Coke  nearly  two  thousand  persons  were  joined 
in  societ3^ 

Dr.  Coke  prevailed  on  Mr.  Baxter  to  relinquish  his  worldly  calling, 
and  devote  himself  exclusively  to  the  work  of  the  ministrj^,  in  which 
he  laboured  till  1805.  The  doctor  preached  immediately  on  his 
arrival,  and  was  much  pressed  to  remain  there.  He  visited  the 
islands  of  St.  Vincent's,  St.  Christopher's,  Domiuica,  Nevis,  and  St. 
Eustatius.  With  the  exception  of  the  last-meution-ed  island,  which 
was  under  the  Dutch  government,  he  was  welcomed  wherever  he 
went,  and  received  such  encouragement  that  the  missionaries  who 
accompanied  him  on  his  voyage  with  the  design  of  settling  in  Nova 
Scotia,  were  stationed  in  this  field  thus  provideutially  opened  to 
them.  One  of  them  settled  at  Antigua,  one  at  St.  Vincent's,  and 
one  at  St.  Christopher's;  and  Dr.  Coke  collected  such  information 
concerning  the  other  islands  as  served  for  a  basis  of  future  action. 

He  sailed  in  February,  1787,  for  Charleston,  where  he  arrived  after 
a  pleasant  passage  of  eighteen  days.  He  travelled  through  different 
states,  noticing  the  rapid  progress  of  the  church,  attending  several 
conferences,  and  gathering  such  facts  as  should  prove  serviceable  to 
his  associates  in  Great  Britain.  His  testimony  against  slavery  and 
the  slave-trade  had  excited  great  indignation  against  him,  which  rose 
to  such  a  pitch  that  his  liberty  and  even  his  life  were  threatened ; 
but  his  fearlessness,  temj^ered  by  discretion,  raised  him  above  the 


THOMAS    COKE.  181 

reach  of  harm.  In  May  lie  sailed  for  Dublin,  where  he  arrived  in 
tvventj-nine  days,  and  found  the  Irish  conference  in  session,  Mr. 
Wesley  presiding. 

The  statements  he  made  of  the  providential  circumstances  that 
led  him  to  the  West  India  islands,  and  of  the  moral  condition  of  the 
people,  especially  of  the  slaves,  were  listened  to  with  interest,  and  the 
duty  of  sending  additional  missionaries  thither  was  promptly  recog- 
nised. From  Dublin  he  proceeded  to  attend  the  English  conference 
at  Manchester,  where  measures  were  adopted  to  carry  the  plan  into 
effect.  Missionaries  were  sought  for  this  service,  and  after  a  brief 
visit  to  the  Norman  islands  Dr.  Coke  undertook  to  solicit  funds  for 
their  support.  In  this  work,  preaching  in  the  principal  towns,  and 
making  appeals  to  individual  liberality,  he  continued  after  the  con- 
ference of  1788,  when  three  missionaries  were  designated,  and  placed 
under  his  supervision.  With  these  he  sailed  in  a  vessel  bound  for 
Barbadoes,  an  island  he  had  not  before  visited. 

Here  they  found  in  the  regiment  stationed  upon  the  island  one  or 
two  pious  soldiers,  who  had  not  been  wanting  in  efforts  to  instruct 
their  fellow-men,  and  were  kindly  received  by  a  gentleman  who  had 
heard  Dr.  Coke  preach  in  the  United  States.  One  of  the  missiona- 
ries was  stationed  here,  and  the  others  proceeded  to  St.  Vincent's, 
whither  Dr.  Coke  followed  them  as  soon  as  he  had  completed 
arrangements  for  the  prosecution  of  the  work  in  Barbadoes.  At 
St.  Vincent's  he  visited  the  district  inhabited  by  the  Caribs,  the 
aborigines  of  the  island,  for  whose  instruction  Mr.  Gilbert  had  left 
Antigua,  but  had  found  so  little  encouragement  that  he  was  about 
to  abandon  the  undertaking.  He  was  persuaded,  however,  to  per- 
severe, and  Mr.  Gamble,  one  of  the  new  missionaries,  was  appointed 
to  labour  at  Antigua.  Dr.  Coke  then  sailed  for  Dominica,  where 
he  was  cordially  received,  and  preached  several  times  with  good 
effect.  A  society  of  twenty-four  persons  was  organized,  some  of 
whom  had  heard  the  gospel  on  the  other  islands.  He  next  repaired 
to  St.  Christopher's  and  Antigua,  where  the  work  was  found  to  be 
prospering. 

The  Dutch  island  of  St.  Eustatius,  which  he  had  before  visited 
unsuccessfully,  was  the  scene  of  persecution.  A  slave  named  Harry, 
imported  from  the  United  States,  whose  mind  had  been  enlightened, 
felt  a  desire  to  communicate  the  truth  to  his  fellows,  and  under  the 
protection  of  a  benevolent  gentleman  had  done  so  with  considerable 
effect.     About  the  time  of  Dr.  Coke's  first  visit,  the  magistrates  had 


182  THOMAS    COKE. 

forbidden  him  or  any  other  person  to  preach,  with  which  prohibition 
he  complied,  but  ventured  to  pray  with  his  brethren,  not  apprehend- 
ing that  any  offence  would  be  taken.  For  this  act,  however,  he  was 
prosecuted,  barbarously  flogged,  and  removed  from  the  island.  Dr. 
Coke  subsequently  met  him  in  the  United  States,  where  he  was  free, 
and  found  him  still  zealous  in  the  cause  of  religion,  and  a  useful 
member  of  the  church. 

Notwithstanding  these  unfavourable  circumstances,  Dr.  Coke,  de- 
termined to  visit  St.  Eustatius,  to  discover  if  any  way  was  open 
to  renew  the  work  so  harshly  interrupted.  He  found  the  authorities 
inflexible,  and  was  obliged  to  take  leave  of  the  sorrowful  disciples, 
who  numbered,  under  all  the  restraints  of  law,  over  two  hundred 
persons.  The  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  was  manned  by  a  drunken 
erew,  and  after  meeting  with  extreme  danger  they  succeeded  in  get- 
ting back  to  St.  Eustatius.  Dr.  Coke  now  thought  himself  called  to 
bear  a  public  testimony  to  the  truth,  and  preached  to  a  large  and 
attentive  congregation.  The  governor  forthwith  ordered  him  to  leave 
the  island,  on  pain  of  prosecution  for  the  violation  of  law  he  had 
openly  committed,  a  command  which  was  of  course  complied  with. 

The  governor  of  the  island  of  Saba,  belonging  to  Holland,  was 
more  friendly,  and  consented  to  the  establishment  of  a  mission  there. 
But  the  governor  of  St.  Eustatius,  who  was  governor-general  of  the 
Dutch  colonies,  promptly  interfered,  and  proliibited  the  mission. 
Thus  foiled  by  the  pertinacity  of  the  Dutch  authorities,  Dr.  Coke 
directed  his  way  to  Santa  Cruz,  a  Danish  island,  where  he  was 
received  with  respect  and  kindness.  The  only  remaining  missionary 
available  for  this  field  was  appointed  to  divide  his  labours  between 
Santa  Cruz  and  Tortola.  Thus  provision  was  made  for  preaching 
the  gospel  in  ten  of  the  West  India  Islands,  having  together  about 
two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  inhabitants,  nearly  four-fifths  of 
whom  were  in  a  state  of  heathenish  ignorance.  Though  they  had  to 
contend  with  many  difficulties,  from  intolerance  and  the  occasional 
casualties  incident  to  the  tempestuous  climate,  calling  for  the  exercise 
of  great  patience  and  self-denial,  yet  the  fruits  of  these  missions 
have  a  thousand-fold  repaid  the  sacrifices  they  have  demanded. 

From  Tortola  Dr.  Coke  directed  his  course  to  Jamaica,  where  he 
preached  several  times,  and  gathered  such  information  as  led  to  the 
establishment  of  a  mission  on  that  important  island.  He  then  pro- 
ceeded to  the  United  States,  arriving  at  Charleston  in  February,  and 
travelled  through  several  states  till  June,  1789.    Embarking  at  New- 


THOMAS    COKE.  188 

York,  he  was  landed  at  Liverpool  on  the  10th  of  July.  Daring  this 
voyage  his  studies  were  directed  to  the  state  of  heathen  nations, 
particularly  those  of  the  South  Sea  islands,  for  whom  he  felt  a  deep 
sympathy,  and  longed  to  do  something  for  their  relief;  but  for  the 
present  this  appeared  to  be  out  of  his  power. 

Immediately  on  his  arrival  he  hastened  to  the  meeting  of  the  con- 
ference, to  make  report  of  his  doings,  to  communicate  information 
on  the  openings  for  evangelical  labour  that  invited  their  care,  and 
plead  the  cause  of  the  destitute.  The  means  of  the  conference 
were  limited,  but  the  emergency  was  pressing,  and  it  was  resolved 
to  go  forward.  The  ensuing  six  months  were  occupied  by  him  in  a 
tour  through  the  kingdom,  soliciting  contributions  for  the  enterprise, 
and  on  the  16th  of  October,  1790,  he  sailed  from  Falmouth  with  two 
additional  missionaries  for  the  West  Indies.  Here  he  found  the 
several  stations  generally  prosperous,  though  at  Barbadoes  the 
society  had  been  injured  by  riotous  proceedings,  which  the  magis- 
trates seemed  to  wink  at.  He  visited  St.  Eustatius  with  the  hope 
that  a  new  governor  would  be  found  more  placable,  but  met  with  a 
hostile  reception  and  a  prohibition  of  preaching.  Several  exhorters, 
however,  had  kept  up  the  society  with  considerable  success,  and  he 
contented  himself,  therefore,  with  a  private  interview,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  giving  them  advice  and  encouragement  suitable  to  theii 
circumstances.  But  he  determined,  on  his  return  to  Europe,  to  lay 
before  the  government  of  Holland  a  statement  of  the  case,  and 
endeavour  to  procure  toleration  for  religious  worship  in  these 
colonies. 

A  preacher  had  been  some  time  settled  at  Jamaica,  but  the  peo- 
ple had  effectually  broken  up  all  meetings  by  riotous  demonstrations, 
which  the  law  was  powerless  to  redress.  The  magistrates  favoured 
the  mob,  and  when  the  rioters  were  prosecuted,  they  were  acquitted 
against  all  law  and  evidence.  Dr.  Coke  was  able,  however,  to  preach 
without  serious  interruption,  and  he  took  occasion  publicly  to  declare 
that,  averse  as  he  was  to  such  proceedings,  the  law  would  be  invoked 
for  the  protection  of  their  rights  as  a  religious  community,  and  that 
if  the  administration  of  the  island  would  not  do  justice  in  the  matter, 
he  would  appeal  to  the  home  government.  His  calm  determination 
seemed  to  produce  some  effect  upon  the  people  for  a  time,  and  a 
measure  of  quiet  was  produced. 

During  this  voyage  a  mission  was  established  on  the  island  of 
Grenada,  favoured  by  the  rector,  a  pious  clergyman,  under  whose 


184  THOMAS    COKE. 

ministiy  a  small  number  of  serious  persons  had  been  gathered.  On 
the  27th  of  January,  1791,  Dr.  Coke  sailed  for  Charleston.  The 
voyage  was  a  perilous  one,  and  after  riding  out  a  severe  gale,  the  ves- 
sel struck  aground,  and  stuck  fast  in  a  sand-bank  not  far  from  Edisto 
island,  about  fift}^  miles  south  of  Charleston.  The  passengers  were 
landed,  and  the  captain  and  crew  finally  deserted  the  ship.  It  went 
out  to  sea,  and  was  brought  into  port  by  the  crew  of  an  American 
vessel,  who  sent  Dr.  Coke's  baggage  after  him  to  Charleston.  Pro- 
ceeding northward,  he  was  arrested  by  the  intelligence  of  the  death 
of  Mr.  Wesley.  This  event  deranging  his  plans,  he  made  prepara- 
tion for  an  immediate  return  to  England,  and  sailed  from  New-Cas- 
tle, Del.,  on  the  14th  of  May. 

On  his  arrival  in  England,  he  had  to  meet  some  jealousies  and 
suspicions  to  which  his  conspicuous  position  in  the  Wesleyan  Con- 
nection made  him  unavoidably  liable  at  such  a  crisis.  On  the 
j)roceedings  of  the  approaching  conferences  of  England  and  Ireland, 
it  depended  whether  that  connection  should  fall  into  anarchy,  and 
expire  with  its  founder,  or  be  kept  in  harmony  and  strength,  to  the 
maintenance  and  diffusion  of  piety  at  home  and  abroad.  The  spirit 
of  unity  and  concord  prevailed,  and  the  conferences  went  forward  in 
their  work  without  material  obstruction. 

Mr.  Wesley  had  committed  his  manuscripts  to  the  care  of  Drs. 
Coke  and  Whitehead  and  Mr.  Henry  Moore,  and  it  was  ordered 
that  a  biography  should  be  prepared  by  them.  But  before  Dr. 
Coke's  arrival.  Dr.  Whitehead  had  obtained  possession  of  the  papers, 
undertaken  the  work,  and  refused  to  surrender  the  materials,  except 
on  terms  which  the  conference  deemed  onerous  and  unjust.  Happily 
no  worse  effects  followed  than  the  preparation  of  rival  works,  one 
by  Dr.  Whitehead  and  one  by  Messrs.  Coke  and  Moore,  both  of 
which  were  circulated  by  the  conference. 

The  French  revolution  had  disposed  Dr.  Coke  to  think  with  favour 
on  a  project  of  establishing  a  mission  in  Paris,  and  for  this  purpose 
he  visited  France,  taking  with  him  a  preacher  from  the  island  of 
Jersey.  On  his  arrival  at  Paris  he  sought  for  two  English  school- 
masters, who  had  written  to  England,  recommending  such  a  mission, 
and  by  their  advice  hired  a  suppressed  church,  and  commenced  pub- 
lic services.  But  it  was  impossible,  in  the  political  excitement  that 
prevailed,  to  secure  a  congregation,  and  the  attempt  was  abandoned, 
lie  returned  to  England,  and  was  chiefly  occupied,  in  conjunction 
with  Mr.  Moore,  in  preparing  their  life  of  Wesley,  which  was  pub- 


THOMAS    COKE.  185 

lished  in  1792.  On  the  completion  of  this  work,  the  conference 
requested  hira  to  prepare  a  commentary  on  the  Scriptures,  fuller 
than  the  notes  published  by  Mr.  Wesley,  but  restricted  to  three 
quarto  volumes,  that  it  might  avoid  the  prolixity  of  preceding  com- 
mentators, and  come  within  the  reach  of  men  of  moderate  means. 
This  he  undertook,  but  various  avocations  prevented  its  completion 
till  fifteen  years  afterwards,  when  it  was  found  to  have  much  exceeded 
in  dimensions  the  limits  first  agreed  upon.  He  was  required  to 
abridge  it,  as  a  condition  of  its  acceptance  and  publication  by  the 
conference,  but  he  refused  to  do  this,  and  issued  it  on  his  own 
account.  It  was  extensively  circulated,  and  regarded  with  favour  at 
the  time,  but  later  works  have  to  a  great  extent  superseded  it. 

At  the  termination  of  the  conference  of  1792,  he  sailed  again  for 
the  West  Indies,  taking  with  him  an  additional  missionary.  At  St. 
Eustatius  the  gospel  was  still  under  the  ban  of  government.  At 
])ominica  no  missionary  had  laboured  for  some  years,  and  the  little 
flock  there  were  without  the  ordinances  of  religion.  At  St.  Yin- 
cent's  an  act  had  been  passed  forbidding  all  preaching,  except  by  the 
T'ectors  of  the  parishes,  and  by  persons  first  licensed  for  that  purpose. 
No  license  was  granted  to  the  missionary,  Mr.  Lumb;  he  had 
preached  without  regard  to  unrighteous  statutes,  and  was  lying  in 
prison  for  his  contumacy.  His  spirit  was  not  broken  by  this  severity, 
and  the  interest  excited  among  the  people  to  hear  Methodist  preach- 
ing showed  that  intolerance  was  reacting  upon  its  authors.  The 
preachers  held  their  conference  at  Antigua,  where  it  appeared  that 
upon  ten  of  the  islands,  under  the  superintendence  of  twelve 
preachers,  there  were  more  than  six  thousand  five  hundred  membei-s 
in  society.  Dr.  Coke  touched  at  Barbadoes,  where  he  found  the 
mission,  though  moderately  successful  in  respect  to  the  number  of 
converts  gathered,  in  other  respects  efficient  and  prosperous;  and 
at  Jamaica,  where  the  cause  laboured  hard  under  all  the  discourage- 
ments of  the  general  hostility  it  was  compelled  to  meet,  but  little 
more  than  two  hundred  members  were  reported.  From  Jamaica 
he  took  passage  for  England,  and  arrived,  after  narrowly  escaping  a 
French  privateer,  on  the  6th  of  June,  1793. 

His  first  care  was  to  present  the  case  of  Mr.  Lumb  to  the  govern- 
ment. This  missionary  had  remained  in  prison  for  the  statutory 
term,  and  was  then  offered  his  release  on  paying  the  jail  fees.  This 
he  refused  to  do,  and  was  threatened  with  continued  imprisonment, 
but  after  one  day's  detention  he  was  set  at  liberty.     But  having  no 


186  THOMAS    COKE. 

permission  to  preach,  lie  left  the  island,  and  the  society  suffered 
much  from  his  departure,  many  of  the  members  renouncing  their 
religious  profession  altogether.  The  Privy  Council,  after  making 
particular  inquiry  into  the  character  of  the  missionaries,  annulled 
the  act  under  which  Mr,  Lumb  suffered. 

Dr.  Coke  now  addressed  himself  to  his  commentary,  but  the  care 
of  the  missions  and  his  frequent  journeys  to  solicit  funds  for  their 
support  much  distracted  his  attention.  The  state  of  the  Dutch  West 
Indies  also  engaged  his  thoughts,  and  he  executed  his  long-deferred 
intention  of  appealing  to  the  government  of  Holland  for  a  repeal  of 
the  intolerant  edicts  of  the  governor-general  of  the  colonies.  For 
this  purpose  he  visited  that  countr}^,  and  spent  considerable  time  in 
soliciting  the  favourable  consideration  of  the  States  to  his  reasonable 
request,  but  without  effect.  The  islands  continued  closed  against 
misionary  effort  more  than  ten  years. 

On  his  return  to  England,  Dr.  Coke  formed  a  project  for  sending  a 
mission  to  Africa,  composed  of  pious  mechanics,  who  should  instruct 
the  natives  at  once  in  religion  and  the  useful  arts.  An  appeal  to 
the  public  was  responded  to  with  liberality,  several  persons  were 
selected  and  furnished  with  a  sufiicient  outfit,  and  much  was  hoped 
from  the  enterprise.  Unhappily,  on  their  arrival  at  Sierra  Leone, 
it  appeared  that  the  company  had  no  moral  fitness  for  the  work; 
their  piety  was  of  a  very  questionable  sort,  and  after  quarrelling 
among  themselves  they  returned  home.  The  great  expense  incurred 
in  the  undertaking  was  wholly  lost.  But  as  it  had  the  effect  to 
excite  in  the  connection  distrust  of  the  policy  of  mingling  religious 
and  industrial  missions  to  the  heathen,  the  pain  was  salutary.  At 
the  time,  however,  comments  injurious  to  Dr.  Coke  were  rife,  and 
somewhat  disturbed  his  equanimity  at  the  next  conference.  The 
result  was,  that  in  a  visit  to  this  country,  which  he  had  made  imme- 
diately after,  in  1796,  he  promised  the  American  Conference  that 
he  would  fix  his  residence  on  this  side  the  Atlantic,  unless  they 
should  voluntarily  release  him  from  the  engagement. 

During  the  ensuing  spring  he  made  extensive  tours  in  Ireland, 
preaching  to  large  congregations.  The  intimation  that  this  was 
probably  his  final  visit  much  affected  the  people.  He  also  visited 
Scotland.  At  the  English  conference,  attention  was  called  to  the 
rumours  of  his  intended  settlement  in  America,  and  the  preachers 
urged  the  retraction  of  his  promise.  To  this  he  was  somewhat 
inclined,  particularly  from  a  view  of  the  state  of  religion  in  Scotland, 


THOMAS    COKE.  187 

and  a  desire  to  undertake  more  vigorous  measures  for  tlie  diffusion 
of  piety  there.  He  therefore  crossed  the  Atlantic  again,  bearing  the 
request  of  the  English  Conference,  with  his  own,  that  his  pledge 
might  be  remitted.  The  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  was  taken  by  a 
French  privateer,  but  Dr.  Coke,  after  being  plundered  of  his  clothes, 
was  set  on  shore.  He  remained  in  this  country  about  a  year.  The 
Conference  heard  his  appeal  and  that  of  their  English  brethren  with 
kindness,  but  declined  to  give  him  entirely  up.  They  consented 
that  for  the  time  being  he  might  return,  but  with  the  understanding 
that  he  should  be  subject  to  their  call  whenever  they  required  his 
services.  This  relation  to  the  Methodist  church  in  the  United  States 
he  maintained  till  his  death. 

Dr.  Coke's  labours  were  now  divided  between  his  commentary, 
the  solicitation  of  funds  for  the  missions,  and  his  customary  visita- 
tions. Ever  revolving  new  plans  of  evangelical  effort,  he  soon  con- 
ceived the  design  of  a  mission  to  the  Irish  peasantry  by  persons 
speaking  their  native  language, — an  enterprise  that  was  crowned 
with  considerable  success.  An  abortive  attempt  was  made  to  cement 
a  close  union  of  the  Methodist  societies  with  the  established  church, 
and  arrest  their  inevitable  proclivity  to  dissent.  It  had  the  approval 
of  the  attorney-general  (afterwards  Lord  Chancellor  Eldon),  with 
whom  Dr.  Coke  was  acquainted  at  Oxford,  but  was  rejected  by  the 
bishops.  These,  and  other  matters  relating  to  the  internal  interests 
of  the  connection,  with  his  literary  labours,  occupied  him  till  the  latter 
part  of  1799,  when  he  made  his  eighth  voyage  to  America,  and 
remained  there  through  the  great  part  of  the  year  1800. 

From  America  he  proceeded  to  Ireland,  where  societies  had  suf- 
fered from  the  late  rebellion,  in  common  with  everj'  other  interest 
of  the  community;  but  by  his  provident  arrangements  previous  to 
its  breaking  out,  those  evils  had  been  mitigated,  and  he  found  things 
in  an  encouraging  state.  Letters  from  Bermuda  informed  him  that 
a  missionary  had  been  imprisoned  under  an  intolerant  act  of  the 
local  legislature.  His  energetic  interference  was  promptly  followed 
by  a  royal  veto  of  the  offensive  enactment,  by  which  religious  lib- 
erty was  established  in  those  islands.  He  made  arrangements  for 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  in  "Wales,  by  men  qualified  to  use  the 
Welsh  tongue,  which  proved  efficient  and  useful. 

The  years  1801-2  were  occupied  in  raising  funds  for  the  missions, 
a  task  that  rested  almost  exclusively  upon  him,  and  in  the  pre- 
paration of  his  commentary,  of  which  that  on  the  Old  Testament 


188  THOMAS    COKE. 

appeared  in  1801.  The  entire  work  was  not  issued  till  1807.  In 
1803  he  made  his  ninth  and  last  voyage  to  the  Western  Continent, 
remaining  in  the  United  States  about  a  year.  While  at  Washington 
he  preached  in  the  capitol.  Soon  after  his  return  to  England  he 
despatched  a  missionary  to  Gibraltar,  whose  death  by  yellow  fever 
soon  after  arriving  at  his  post  put  an  end  to  the  undertaking  for  the 
present.     It  was  successfully  renewed  four  years  after. 

In  1805,  Dr.  Coke  was  married  to  a  lady  of  excellent  character, 
possessed  of  an  ample  fortune.  His  own  property  had  been  nearly 
all  expended  in  his  missionary  enterprises,  and  his  wife  was  happy 
to  contribute  liberally  to  the  same  pious  purposes.  She  died  in  1811, 
in  the  49th  year  of  her  age.  In  the  same  year,  1805,  an  extended 
sj'stem  of  home  missions  was  instituted  by  Dr.  Coke,  the  expense 
of  which  he  largely  bore.  From  this  period  till  1809  he  was  chiefly 
engaged  in  literary  labours,  in  addition  to  his  ordinary  itineracies. 

The  important  mission  in  Jamaica  was  now  threatened  with  sup- 
pression. The  colonial  legislature  passed  an  act  in  1808  imposing 
severe  penalties  on  all  worship  other  than  that  of  the  Church  of 
England.  Apprehending  adverse  action  on  the  part  of  the  home 
government,  the  application  for  the  royal  approval  was  delayed  as 
long  as  the  law  would  admit,  and  meanwhile  the  meetings  were 
strictly  repressed.  Eight  months  elapsed  before  the  act  was  laid 
before  the  council,  and  an  agent  of  the  colony  came  to  enlist  all 
possible  influence  in  its  support.  Appealing  as  it  did  to  strong 
ecclesiastical  prejudices,  and  having  powerful  interests  in  its  favour. 
Dr.  Coke,  though  confident  that  the  king's  government  were  gen- 
erally disposed  to  favour  tolerant  measures  in  the  colonies,  had  some 
fears  for  the  result.  He  made  earnest  representations  to  the  privy 
council,  and  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  this  measure  of  persecution 
annulled. 

A  mission  was  undertaken  in  1811  to  the  French  prisoners  of 
war,  of  whom  thousands  were  collected  on  board  prison-ships  at  the 
several  naval  depots.  A  question  arising  about  the  expense  of  the 
effort.  Dr.  Coke  offered,  with  his  accustomed  boldness  and  generosity, 
to  defray  the  whole  charge,  and  trust  to  public  liberality  for  its 
reimbursement.  The  early  return  of  peace  put  an  end  to  it.  Mis- 
sionaries were  also  sent  to  Sierra  Leone  at  his  private  cost.  Toward 
the  close  of  this  year  he  married  a  second  time,  but  the  union  was 
dissolved  by  the  death  of  his  wife  in  one  year. 


THOMAS    COKE.  189 

Althougli  far  advanced  in  life,  Dr.  Coke  now  meditated  a  new 
enterprise, — the  establishment  of  a  mission  to  India.  Hitherto  he 
had  acted  as  a  superintendent  and  director  of  missions ;  he  now  was 
disposed  to  leave  England,  with  the  expectation  of  labouring  the 
rest  of  his  days  in  Ceylon.  As  early  as  178-i  he  had  corresponded 
with  a  gentleman  in  Bengal  on  the  practicability  of  founding  a  mis- 
sion there,  but  from  the  information  he  received  he  regarded  the 
difficulties  at  that  time  insuperable.  In  1806  his  views  were  ripened 
by  personal  conference  with  a  gentleman  in  Cornwall,  whose  long 
residence  in  India  qualified  him  to  impart  valuable  information  on 
the  subject,  but  multifarious  engagements  prevented  any  action  at 
the  time.  Now  his  way  seemed  open.  His  other  missions  had  been 
successfully  established;  his  literary  labours  were  finished,  his  books 
had  become  the  property  of  the  conference;  and  the  death  of  his 
wife  left  him  without  domestic  ties  to  bind  his  heart  to  England. 
By  the  advice  of  Dr.  Buchanan,  Ceylon  was  fixed  upon  as  the  seat 
of  the  mission,  and  he  commenced  his  preparations. 

To  the  remonstrances  of  friends  with  reference  to  his  personal 
risks  at  that  period  of  his  life,  and  the  difficulty  of  adapting  his 
physical  habits  and  organs  of  speech  to  a  tropical  climate  and  an 
oriental  language,  he  replied,  that  he  was  dead  to  England  and 
alive  to  India;  that  the  great  number  of  nominal  Christians  in  Cey- 
lon opened  an  easier  field  for  labour  than  among  the  Hindoos;  and 
that  the  prevalence  of  the  Portuguese  language  among  them  fur- 
nished a  medium  of  communication  that  would  be  acquired  by  him 
without  material  difficulty.  These  opinions  regarding  the  nominal 
Christians  of  India  were  then  very  generally  entertained,  but  experi- 
ence has  not  confirmed  them,  and  the  Wesleyan  missionaries  in 
Ceylon  have  from  the  first  laboured  among  the  heathen,  in  the  Cin- 
galese and  Tamil  tongues. 

Among  his  first  cares  was  to  provide  for  the  continued  support 
of  the  missions  already  in  operation.  These  had  been  carried  for- 
ward, notwithstanding  their  extent  and  magnitude,  under  the  charge 
of  Dr.  Coke.  Though  he  reported  his  doings  to  the  conference,  and 
had  their  entire  approbation,  yet  he  personally  selected  the  mission- 
aries, solicited  funds  for  their  support,  and  when  any  deficiency  of 
means  existed,  made  it  up  from  his  own  purse.  By  degrees  the 
codperation  of  the  conference  had  become  more  regular  and  constant; 
but  so  much  of  the  responsibility  still  rested  upon  him,  that  without 
some  new  and  more  definite  or2:anization,  his  death  or  withdrawal 


190  THOMAS    COKE. 

by  any  cause  from  the  work  must  have  caused  at  least  a  considerable 
temporary  embarrassment.  Auxiliary  societies  were  now  planned, 
which  afterwards  ripened  into  what  is  now  one  of  the  most  power- 
ful missionary  organizations  in  Great  Britain. 

At  the  Conference  of  1813,  Dr.  Coke  presented  himself,  with  six 
men  whom  he  had  engaged  to  accompany  him,  stated  the  plan  and 
grounds  of  his  new  enterprise,  and  anticipating  objections  on  the 
score  of  expense,  offered  to  advance  the  required  funds  from  his 
private  fortune,  to  the  extent,  if  necessary,  of  six  thousand  pounds. 
The  conference  so  far  acceded  to  his  proposal  as  to  sanction  the 
^Mission,  approve  the  men  selected,  and  to  borrow  of  Dr.  Coke  three 
thousand  pounds.  The  necessary  outfit  having  been  procured, 
including  a  printing-press,  the  company  departed  on  the  30th  of 
December  in  two  ships,  in  a  fleet  of  thirty-three  merchantmen,  con- 
voyed by  eight  vessels  of  war.  The  wife  of  one  of  the  missionaries 
died  on  the  9th  of  Februar3^  No  other  important  incident  occurred 
on  their  passage  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  but  on  passing  the  cape 
they  were  exposed  to  violent  gales,  in  which  several  sailors  were  car- 
ried overboard  and  lost.  They  passed  the  isle  of  Bourbon  on  the 
24:th  of  April,— on  the  third  of  May,  Dr.  CoKE  loas  no  more. 

During  the  voyage  he  had  been  in  excellent  health,  and  nothing 
had  appeared  to  warrant  the  anticipation  of  his  death.  On  the  first 
of  May  he  was  slightly  indisposed;  the  next  night,  on  retiring  to 
rest,  he  asked  for  some  medicine.  Mr.  Clough,  one  of  his  associates, 
offered  to  sit  up  with  him  during  the  night,  but  he  declined  the 
proposal  as  needless.  Upon  opening  his  cabin  in  the  morning  he 
was  found  extended  lifeless  upon  the  floor.  The  event  was  ascribed 
to  apoplexy,  and  it  was  conjectured  that  upon  first  being  conscious 
of  increasing  indisposition,  he  rose  from  his  bed  to  procure  some- 
thing not  within  his  reach,  or  to  call  for  assistance,  and  in  this  state 
death  met  him  suddenly. 

But  though  the  end  of  his  earthly  course  was  sudden,  and  the 
purposes  of  his  life  were  arrested  while  their  execution  was  incom- 
plete, he  had  effected  no  common  measure  of  usefulness.  He  had 
borne  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  foundation  of  a  church  whose  expan- 
sion has  been  unequalled.  To  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in 
America  he  stood  in  a  relation  that  approached  the  paternal  charac- 
ter. He  had  personally  originated  and  directed  a  circle  of  missions, 
whose  fruits  are  abundant,  and  whose  increase  is  still  unchecked. 


TnOMAS    COKE.  191 

For  their  support  lie  had  exhausted  his  patrimony  and  sacrificed 
personal  ease,  with  a  singleness  of  heart  not  often  paralleled, — "in 
journey ings  often,  in  perils  of  waters, — in  weariness  and  painful- 
uess, — and  besides  those  things  that  were  without,  that  which  came 
upon  him  daily,  the  care  of  all  the  churches"  he  had  planted 
and  watered. 

He  had  given  directions  in  his  will  that  his  body  should  be 
conveyed  to  England,  and  deposited  by  the  side  of  his  two  wives  in 
the  family  vault  at  Brecon,  but  it  was  physically  impossible  to  do 
this,  and  with  heavy  hearts  his  brethren  committed  his  mortal 
remains  to  the  deep.  They  went  on  their  way,  and  were  received 
with  abundant  sympathy  by  the  missionaries  of  the  Baptist  and  the 
Church  of  England  Missionary  Societies,  and  the  work  to  which 
their  venerated  superintendent  had  hoped  to  devote  his  elastic 
energies,  was  carried  forward  in  his  forceful  and  persevering  sijirit. 

The  leading  traits  in  the  character  of  Dr.  Coke  are  obvious  at  a 
glance.  The  characters  of  few  men  have  been  more  legibly  written 
in  their  deeds.  Boldness,  decision,  and  indomitable  zeal,  were  dis- 
played during  his  whole  career.  These  qualities  wielded  a  more 
than  commonly  fertile  and  elastic  mind,  and  were  under  the  control 
of  a  high  sense  of  duty.  When  convinced  of  the  truth  of  Ch  ristianity, 
he  turned  his  back  on  his  associates  in  the  university.  AVhen  con- 
vinced of  the  truth  of  the  evangelical  system,  he  embraced  it  with 
all  his  powers  and  3'ielded  his  heart  to  its  legitimate  authority. 
What  he  believed,  he  preached,  regardless  of  popular  opinion.  To 
the  dissemination  of  the  gospel  he  devoted  his  time,  talents  and 
money,  without  hesitation  and  without  grudging,  for  thirty-eight 
years,  and  died  in  harness. 

His  relations  to  the  missionary  enterprise  may  be  briefly  stated. 
He  was  not,  till  his  last  voyage,  a  missionary  to  the  heathen,  and 
Providence  did  not  permit  him  to  execute  his  eager  purpose.  Most 
of  the  missions  he  actually  founded  were  in  the  possessions  of  Great 
Britain,  and  among  people  speaking  the  English  tongue.  If  he  had 
any  defect,  it  was  in  that  capital  art  of  "plodding,"  which  we  have 
seen  entered  so  largely  into  the  elements  of  Carey's  success.  The 
want  of  this  is  visible  in  his  ready  discouragement  at  the  failure  of 
immediate  results  in  preaching  to  the  Indians  in  this  country,  and 
at  the  obstacles  to  effort  amono;  the  Hindoos.     But  "there  are  diver- 


192-  THOMAS    COKE. 

sities  of  gifts"  bestowed  by  "the  same  Spirit."  It  would  be  tlie 
dictate  of  ingratitude  to  the  bountiful  Giver  of  them  all,  to  object 
that  they  are  not  distributed  to  all  His  servants  alike.  The  qualities 
which  Dr.  Coke  brought  to  his  life's  work  are  worthy  of  all  admira- 
tion, and  the  whole-hearted  devotion  with  which  he  made  them  bear 
upon  the  grand  object  of  his  pursuit  will  never  be  forgotten  by  those 
wlio  venerate  piety,  benevolence  and  self-sacrifice. 


^. 


^^C^' 


i 


ADONIRAM  JUDSON. 


Adoniram  Judson,  junior,  was  born  at  Maiden,  Massachusetts, 
August  9,  1788.  Of  bis  childhood  and  youth  little  information  has 
been  communicated  to  the  public.  It  would  be  interesting,  if  possi- 
ble, to  trace  the  development  of  powers  so  capacious  and  a  character 
so  striking  as  his  long  and  eventful  career  displayed.  He  was  grad- 
uated at  Brown  University  in  1807,  with  the  highest  honour.  He 
is  remembered  by  college  contemporaries  as  a  young  man  of  a  spare 
but  commanding  figure,  erect  and  firm,  giving  evidence  of  a  sound 
physical  constitution,  and  a  mind  of  more  than  common  vigour  and 
self-reliance.  His  habitual  demeanour  was  grave  and  circumspect 
until  near  the  close  of  his  collegiate  course.  His  ambition  having 
been  gratified  by  the  position  he  had  gained,  the  constraint  of  his 
manners  was  then  somewhat  relaxed,  and  he  showed  a  more  genial 
and  playful  humour.  He  acquitted  himself  on  the  commencement- 
day  in  a  manner  that  attracted  much  attention  and  praise,  heightened 
by  his  youthful  appearance. 

The  son  of  a  Congregational  clergyman,  he  had  the  advantages 
of  religious  culture  that  such  a  relation  naturally  confers,  but  entered 
upon  manhood,  not  only  without  evidence  of  personal  piety,  but 
with  skeptical  views  of  the  authority  of  Christianity.  Soon  after 
graduating,  he  began  a  tour  through  the  United  States.  While 
travelling,  he  became  impressed  v/ith  the  conviction  that  to  cherish 
doubts  of  the  truth  of  Christianity  without  making  an  effort  to 
resolve  them,  was  unreasonable.  The  importance  and  solemnity  of 
the  issue  were  discerned  in  such  a  light  that  it  was  impossible  to 
continue  his  journey.  He  returned  to  Plymouth,  then  the  residence 
of  his  father,  and  commenced  the  serious  examination  of  the  Chris- 
tian evidences.  He  was  convinced  of  their  validity,  but  did  not  at 
first  have  very  distinct  views  of  the  nature  of  religion  as  a  prac- 
tical system.  In  this  state  of  mind,  being  on  a  visit  to  Boston,  he 
happened  to  take  from  the  shelf  of  a  private  library  a  work  formerly 
much  esteemed  by  serious  readers,* — "Human  Nature  in  its  Fourfold 

*  In  this  country  many  Scottish  Christians,  it  is  believed,  still  highly  prize  it 

13 


194  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

State ;"  by  Thomas  Boston,  minister  of  Ettrick,  in  Scotland.  From 
this  lie  srained  new  views  of  the  Christian  scheme  and  of  his  own 

O 

relations  to  it.  His  mind  was  profoundly  agitated,  and  all  his  plans 
were  merged  in  anxiety  to  find  peace  for  a  disquieted  conscience. 

About  this  time  the  Theological  Seminary  at  Andover  was  estab- 
lished, and  Mr.  Judson  applied  for  admission,  in  order  to  gain  the 
advantages  it  afforded  for  religious  stud};-  and  instruction.  The  rules 
of  the  seminary  required  evidence  of  evangelical  piety  before  admis- 
sion, but  the  officers,  with  some  hesitation,  received  him  as  a  mem- 
ber. In  no  long  time  his  inquiries  were  satisfied;  he  clearly  saw 
and  heartily  submitted  to  the  truth,  receiving  a  full  measure  of  its 
divine  consolations.  He  then  turned  his  attention  to  the  appropriate 
studies  preparatory  to  the  Christian  ministry.  But  his  purposes 
were  not  to  find  their  limit  here.  In  the  summer  or  autumn  of  1809, 
he  met  with  Buchanan's  "Star  in  the  East,"  the  reading  of  which 
suggested  to  his  mind  the  importance  of  the  missionary  work,  and 
awakened  a  desire  to  engage  in  it.  His  feelings  were  communicated 
to  several  persons,  who  all  discouraged  him.  At  length  he  gained 
the  assent  of  Samuel  Nott,  jr.,  to  his  views,*  and  subsequently  found 
in  the  minds  of  several  other  young  men  associated  with  him  in  the 
seminary,  Messrs.  Mills,  Richards,  Rice  and  Newell,  a  deep  sympathy 
in  his  aspirations,  the  fruit  of  meditation  and  mutual  counsel  in  past 
years  and  distant  scenes.f 

The  state  of  public  sentiment  was  not  such  as  to  furnish  encour- 
agement that  any  immediate  steps  would  be  taken  to  secure  the 
accomplishment  of  their  wishes,  and  a  submission  to  this  delay  was 
apparently  yielded  by  his  associates,  with  which  Mr.  Judson  was 
dissatisfied.  Seeing  no  avenue  to  the  missionary  field  open  on  this 
side  the  Atlantic,  he  conceived  the  design  of  offering  himself  for  the 
patronage  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  This  he  suggested  to 
Rev.  Dr.  Grifiin,  then  a  professor  in  the  seminary,  who  undertook  to 
write  on  his  behalf  to  London.  Some  time  after,  as  they  casually 
met.  Dr.  Griffin  apologized  for  having  failed  to  write  according  to 
his  promise,  but  expressed  his  intention  to  do  so  immediately.     "I 

*  Memoir  of  L.  Rice,  p.  86. 

f  As  the  formation  of  the  American  Board  has  been  described  witli  considerable 
minuteness  in  connection  with  the  life  of  Gordon  Hall,  the  present  sketch  has  no 
further  design  in  this  respect  than  to  exhibit  the  character  and  extent  of  Mr.  Judson's 
personal  agency  in  the  mutter.  The  reader  will  excuse  the  repetition  of  some  facts 
and  dates  which  are  necessary  to  clearness  of  statement. 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON.  lOo 

(hank  you,  sir,"  Mr.  Judson  replied  with  characteristic  promptness, 
"I  have  written  for  mj^self."*  A  letter  to  the  Directors  of  the  Lon- 
don Missionary  Society,  disclosing  his  views  and  requesting  inform- 
ation, received  a  favourable  reply,  inviting  him  to  visit  England,  and 
obtain  in  person  the  information  he  sought. 

The  project  was  arrested  by  more  favourable  indications  at  home. 
Having  learned  from  those  of  his  associates  who  had  mutually 
pledged  themselves  to  the  missionary  work  while  at  Williams  Col- 
lege, something  of  the  character  and  views  of  Gordon  Hall,  then  at 
Woodbury,  Conn.,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  him,  which  hastened  Mr. 
Hall's  arrival  at  Andover.f  Mr.  Hall's  inclinations  concurred  with 
his  own.  Kenewed  consultation  led  to  a  decisive  resolve,  and  the 
meeting  of  the  General  Association  of  Massachusetts,  at  Bradford, 
in  June,  1810,  was  fixed  upon  as  a  favourable  occasion  for  broaching 
their  designs  to  the  public.  Mr.  Judson  drew  up  a  paper,  setting  forth 
their  wishes,  and  asking  the  advice  of  the  Association  with  respect 
to  the  propriety  of  cherishing,  and  the  proper  means  of  effecting  them. 
To  this  paper  were  first  subscribed  the  names  of  Messrs.  Judson, 
Nott,  Newell,  Hall,  Richards  and  Rice,  but  the  two  latter  withdrew 
their  names,  lest  so  large  a  number  should  produce  embarrassment 
The  result  was  the  organization  of  the  American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions. 

It  was  Mr.  Judson 's  expectation  that  he  and  his  associates  w^ould 
immediately  receive  an  appointment  as  missionaries,  but  the  Board 
was  without  the  needful  funds  to  send  them  forth,  and  contented 
itself  with  approving  their  purpose,  and  recommending  them  to 
adhere  to  it.  Mr.  Judson  thought  that  this  course  savoured  of 
timidity,  and  was  auspicious  of  no  very  speedy  action.  He  recurred 
to  his  invitation  from  England,  and  suggested  the  possibility  of 
gaining  the  cooperation  of  the  London  Missionary  Society.  At  his 
request  he  was  authorized  to  visit  London,  and  ascertain  the  practi- 
cability of  a  joint  management  of  missions  by  the  two  societies.  He 
sailed  for  England  in  January,  1811,  and  three  weeks  after  was 
captured  by  a  French  privateer,  on  board  of  which  he  was  detained 
several  weeks,  and  was  then  confined  in  a  prison  at  Bayonne.  By 
the  interposition  of  an  American  gentleman  he  was  released  on  his 

*  For  this,  and  one  or  two  other  facts  in  reUition  to  Dr.  Judson's  early  life,  the 
Rritcr  is  indebted  to  a  correspondent  who  knew  him  when  in  college. 

t  Memoir  of  L.  Rice,  p.  87. 


196  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

parole,  and  at  length  obtained  a  passport,  and  reached  England  in 
May.  He  found  the  plan  he  had  in  view  impracticable,  but  the 
Directors  of  the  London  society  expressed  a  readiness  to  recieve  him 
and  his  brethren  under  their  patronage  in  case  they  could  not  obtain 
support  in  America,  and  gave  them  instructions  to  be  used  by  them 
at  their  option. 

Eeturning  to  the  United  States,  Mr.  Judson  and  another  of  the 
candidates  for  missionary  service  attended  the  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Commissioners  at  Worcester  in  September.  The  funds  of  the 
Board  were  scanty,  and  there  was  some  indication  that  their  enter- 
prise might  be  yet  further  delayed.  Mr.  Judson  urged  immediate 
movement,  on  the  ground  of  impending  war  with  England,  which 
might  cause  a  long  postponement,  if  not  a  final  abandonment  of 
missions  to  the  east.  After  anxious  deliberation,  the  Board  adopted 
Messrs.  Judson,  Hall,  Newell  and  Nott,  as  its  missionaries,  with  a 
designation  to  the  Burman  empire,  recommending,  however,  that 
they  should  continue  their  studies  for  a  time. 

It  happened,  by  a  singular  coiucidenc,  that  Mr.  Judson  was  in 
Salem  a  few  weeks  before,  and  was  there  introduced  to  the  late  Rev. 
Dr.  Bolles,  with  whom  he  was  destined  to  stand  in  relations  of  which 
neither  could  then  have  formed  a  conception.  In  the  course  of 
conversation  he  casually  expressed  to  Mr.  Bolles  the  hope  that  the 
Baptist  denomination  in  America  would  follow  the  missionary 
example  of  their  brethren  in  England.  The  hint  was  a  seed  drop- 
ped in  a  fruitful  soil.  The  Baptists  of  this  country  were  then  weak, 
and  there  was  little  prospect  of  independent  action  on  their  parts, 
but  the  Salem  Bible  Translation  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
was  immediately  formed,  a  month  before  the  meeting  of  the  Board 
of  Commissioners  at  Worcester.  Its  first  object  was  the  contribution 
of  aid  to  the  Baptist  mission  at  Serampore,  but  it  distinctly  contem- 
plated the  appointment  of  foreign  missionaries  from  this  country,  as 
soon  as  circumstances  should  make  such  a  measure  practicable.  The 
occasion  came  sooner  than  was  anticipated. 

While  attending  the  meeting  of  the  Association  at  Bradford  in 
the  preceding  year,  Mr.  Judson  first  met  Miss  Ann  Hasseltine, 
with  whom  he  formed  an  acquaintance  that  led  to  an  ofier  of  mar- 
riage. However  such  a  proposal  might  have  been  viewed  by  her 
under  ordinary  circumstances,  coming  as  it  did  from  one  about  to 
be  self-exiled  for  missionary  service,  in  a  distant  land,  and  among  a 
semi-barbarous  people,  it  was  no  wonder  that  she  hesitated.     With 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON".  197 

qualities  that  fitted  her  to  move  in  the  choicest  society,  and  sensibil- 
ities that  might  well  shrink  from  the  imminent  self-denial  involved  in 
a,n  acceptance  of  the  proposal,  her  devoted  piety  gave  her  power  to 
sympathize  with  the  missionary's  spirit.  Her  decision  was  deliber- 
ately made,  to  share  his  sufferings  and  toils  and  unselfish  joys.  In 
her  Mr.  Judson  found  a  most  fortunate  companion,  and  the  cause  of 
missions  an  unrivalled  ornament.  Together,  they  were  a  pair  pecu- 
liarly qualified  for  mutual  support  in  founding  a  mission  against 
obstacles  few  would  have  ventured  to  encounter,  and  fewer  still 
would  have  had  strength  to  overcome.  The  future  was  not  indeed 
foreseen,  but  its  possibilities  were  present  to  their  minds.  In  asking 
her  father's  assent  to  their  union,  extenuating  nothing,  Mr.  Judson 
frankly  asked  whether  he  could  "consent  to  her  exposure  to  the 
dangers  of  the  ocean;  to  the  fatal  influence  of  the  southern  climate 
of  India;  to  every  kind  of  want  and  distress;  to  degradation,  insult, 
persecution,  and  perhaps  a  violent  death."  The  sacrifice  was  made, 
a  sense  of  duty  overcame  the  promptings  of  parental  tenderness, 
and  the  youthful  pair,  bound  together  by  ties  of  united  duty  and 
affection,  prepared  for  their  departure.  They  were  married  on  the 
5th  of  February,  1812,  and  on  the  day  following  Mr.  Judson,  with 
his  four*  colleagues,  received  ordination  at  Salem.  Messrs.  Judson 
and  Newell  with  their  wives  sailed  from  Salem  on  the  19th,  in  the 
bark  Caravan  for  Calcutta, .  and  the  rest  of  the  company  from  Phil- 
adelphia on  the  18th  for  the  same  destination. 

The  Caravan  arrived  at  Calcutta  on  the  18th  of  June.  The  mis- 
sionaries were  cordially  welcomed  by  Dr.  Carey,  and  invited  to  await 
at  Serampore  the  arrival  of  their  associates.  They  accepted  the 
invitation,  and  were  received  with  marked  kindness  by  the  mission 
family.  Their  enjoyment  was  rudely  interrupted.  In  about  ten 
days  they  received  a  summons  to  Calcutta,  There  a  government 
order  was  served  upon  them  to  return  immediately  to  America. 
Their  position  was  embarrassing.  The  state  of  the  Burman  empire, 
their  original  destination,  seemed  to  forbid  the  present  establishment 
of  a  mission  there.  To  leave  Calcutta  then,  was  apparently  to  aban- 
don their  whole  enterprise.  They  finally  asked  and  obtained  leave 
to  sail  to  the  Isle  of  France,  whither  a  vessel  then  in  the  river  was 
bound,  which  was  granted.     The  vessel  could  take  but  two  passen- 

*  Mr.  Rice  had  been  subsequently  appointed. 


198  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

gers,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs,  Newell  embarked  in  her,  leaving  their  com- 
panions to  follow  by  the  first  opportunity.  Mr.  Judson  remained 
two  months  at  Calcutta,  during  which  time  that  change  took  place 
in  his  views  which  sundered  his  present  relations  as  a  missionary, 
and  was  made  the  instrument  of  enlisting  a  new  agenc}^  in  the  work 
of  human  evangelization. 

While  on  his  passage  from  America,  as  he  was  engaged  in  the 
study  of  the  original  Scriptures,  his  attention  was  drawn  to  the  sub- 
ject of  baptism.  The  reflection  that  he  was  soon  to  meet  Baptist 
missionaries,  and  that  he  might  be  called  to  defend  his  faith  on  the 
points  of  difference  between  them, — an  apprehension  which  turned 
out  to  be  groundless, — led  him  to  study  the  subject  more  closely. 
Before  reaching  any  conclusion,  his  arrival  at  Calcutta  and  subsequent 
difficulties  arrested  the  inquiry.  He  resumed  it  after  the  departure 
of  Mr.  Newell,  and  ended  by  adopting  the  sentiments  of  the  Baptists. 
It  cost  him  a  severe  struggle  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion  that  must 
sever  him  from  the  patronage  of  the  Board  that  had  honoured  him 
by  its  confidence,  and  leave  him  to  the  contingency  of  gaining  sup- 
port from  a  communion  with  whose  members,  saving  two  or  three 
individual  exceptions,  he  had  no  personal  acquaintance.  On  first 
learning  the  state  of  his  mind,  Mrs.  Judson  was  much  distressed, 
but  after  a  similar  investigation  her  views  were  conformed  to  his. 
They  were  baptized  on  the  6th  of  September. 

Mr.  Eice  united  with  Messrs.  Hall  and  Nott  in  a  regretful  commu- 
nication of  this  "trying  event"  to  the  Board.  But  his  own  mind 
was  excited  to  a  review  of  his  opinions,  and  in  a  few  weeks  followed 
the  example  of  Mr.  Judson.  They  resigned  their  commission  from 
the  Board,  and  wrote  to  Rev.  Dr.  Baldwin,  of  Boston,  and  Mr.  Bolles 
of  Salem,  appealing  to  American  Baptists  for  sympathy  and  aid. 
Meanwhile,  it  became  necessary  to  take  immediate  measures  to  find 
a  refuge  from  the  hostility  of  the  East  India  Company,  which  was 
heightened  by  intelligence  of  war  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  and  by  the  suspicion,  from  their  protracted  stay, 
that  the  missionaries  designed  to  remain  permanently  at  Calcutta. 
They  were  peremptorily  ordered  to  take  passage  for  England,  In 
this  emergency  they  engaged  a  passage  to  the  Isle  of  France.  Thej'- 
had  gone  down  the  river  for  two  days,  when  an  order  came,  arrest- 
ing the  vessel,  on  the  ground  that  she  had  on  board  passengers 
ordered  to  England.  All  escape  now  seemed  impossible,  but  after 
remaining  on  shore  three  days,  they  received  from  an  unknown 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON.  199 

hand  a  pass  authorizing  their  passage  in  the  ship  they  had  left,  B  v 
two  days'  hard  rowing,  a  distance  of  seventy  miles,  they  reached 
Sangur,  and  found  the  vessel  providentially  lying  at  anchor. 

They  arrived  at  the  Isle  of  France  on  the  17th  of  January.  The 
hostility  of  the  East  Indian  government  followed  them,' — the  gov- 
ernor received  a  notice  to  look  carefully  after  them  as  suspicious 
persons.  To  this  he  paid  no  attention,  and  on  the  contrary  treated 
them  with  much  kindness,  offering  them,  if  they  chose  to  remain  on 
the  island,  his  countenance  in  their  work.  But  it  was  not  a  desir- 
able field  for  missionary  labour.  They  thought  of  Madagascar,  but 
a  mission  there  appeared  impracticable,  and  it  was  at  last  decided  to 
attempt  one  on  Pinang,  or  Prince  of  "Wales'  Island,  for  which  pur- 
pose Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  embarked  for  Madras.  In  the  mean  time 
Mr.  Pice  returned  to  America,  to  effect  in  person  with  the  Baptists 
the  needful  arrangements  for  their  support.  Tidings  of  the  unex- 
pected event,  that  threw  upon  the  sympathies  of  the  denomination 
two  missionaries  already  providentially  in  India,  had  preceded  him, 
and  he  received  a  cordial  welcome.  Auxiliary  societies  were  formed, 
and  a  meeting  of  delegates  assembled  in  Philadelphia,  by  whom  was 
formed  the  Baptist  General  Convention,  more  recently  reorganized 
by  the  name  of  the  American  Baptist  Missionary  Union.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Judson  were  adopted  as  their  missionaries,  while  Mr.  Rice  remained 
to  give  his  services  to  the  domestic  agency  of  the  Convention. 

Where  the  appointed  missionaries  would  labour  was  not,  indeed, 
known  even  to  themselves.  On  reaching  Madras  they  heard  of  the 
order  for  the  transportation  of  the  American  missionaries  from 
Bombay  to  England.  Dreading  the  like  treatment,  the}^  made  all 
haste  to  escape  from  the  British  dominions.  There  was  no  outward- 
bound  vessel  in  the  harbour,  except  an  unseaworthy  craft  about  to 
sail  for  Eangoon,  the  principal  port  of  the  Barman  empire.  In 
this  they  took  passage,  and  after  braving  numerous  perils  reached 
their  destination  in  July,  1813,  resolved,  if  practicable,  to  remain 
there.  The  trials  they  had  met  with  providentially  overruled  the 
apprehensions  that  caused  them  to  shiink  from  a  mission  in  Bur- 
mah,  and  brought  them  to  the  place  of  their  original  designation. 
The  day  of  their  arrival  was  one  of  gloom.  Uncertain  as  to  the 
issue  of  their  enterprise,  lonely  from  the  want  of  Christian  society, 
and  without  intelligence  from  friends  at  home,  they  went  on  shore, 
scarcely  knowing  whither  they  should  go.  The  health  of  Mrs.  Jud- 
Bon,  moreover,  had  suffered  from  excitement,  fatigue  and  danger,  so 


200  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

tliat  she  was  scarcely  able  to  land.  They  found  slielter  and  tbo 
temporary  companionship  of  Mrs.  Felix  Carey,  in  the  mission-house 
that  had  been  occupied  about  live  years  by  English  missionaries, 
but  was  now  to  be  abandoned  for  the  occupancy  of  others  to  whom 
the  evangelization  of  Burmah  was  manifestly  committed. 

The  Burman  empire,  then  including  Arracan  and  the  Tenasserim 
provinces,  of  which  it  has  been  stripped,  and  Cassay,  a  part  of  which 
is  now  independent,  is  an  absolute  despotism.  The  monarch  is 
styled  the  "Master  of  Life  and  Death,"  and  his  edicts  are  the  unques- 
tioned law  of  the  land.  The  country  is  divided  into  districts,  each 
under  the  rule  of  a  viceroy,  or  governor,  by  whom  the  imperial 
decrees  are  executed  on  the  whole  people. 

The  religion  of  Burmah,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  is  Boodhism,  a 
superstition  which  enslaves  nearly  one-third  of  the  human  race.*- 
It  acknowledges  no  living  God  or  intelligent  first  cause,  but  affirms 
the  eternity  of  matter.  It  holds  that  four  Boodhs,  or  deities,  have 
successively  appeared  at  intervals  of  several  thousand  years,  and 
have  been  absorbed  into  Nicban,  a  state  of  entire  unconsciousness 
or  annihilation,  which  is  regarded  as  the  highest  reward  of  virtue. 
The  last  Boodh,  Gaudama,  appeared  about  the  year  B.  C.  600, 
became  Boodh  at  the  age  of  thirty-five,  and  forty-five  years  after 
was  absorbed.  As  thousands  of  years  will  elapse  before  the  appear- 
ance of  another,  the  system  is  meanwhile  one  of  pure  atheism.  The 
objects  of  adoration  are  images  and  relics  of  Gaudama,  to  whom 
numerous  temples  are  erected,  served  by  a  large  body  of  priests, 
who  are  bound  to  celibacy,  and  subsist  by  alms.  The  only  religious 
pursuit  of  the  people  is  the  acquisition  of  merit  by  alms  deeds  and 
austerities. 

Boodhism  is  superior  to  other  forms  of  paganism,  in  its  moral 
features.  It  does  not  deify  lust,  revenge  or  cupidity.  It  has  five 
moral  precepts:  Thou  shalt  not  kill;  thou  shalt  not  steal;  thou  sh alt 
not  commit  adultery;  thou  shalt  not  lie;  thou  shalt  use  no  intoxi- 

*  This  estimate  is  of  course  conjectural.  The  proportion  is  sometimes  stated  as 
high  as  one-half.  The  system  prevails  in  Ceylon,  Burmah,  Siam,  Anam  or  Cochin- 
China,  and  China;  the  immense  population  of  China  is  necessarily  included  in  the 
larger  estimate,  and  a  considerable  portion  of  it  is  required  to  substantiate  the  mere 
moderate  computation  stated  in  the  text.  But  no  unifoim  religious  belief  exists  m 
China,  and  it  is  probable  tliat  the  body  of  the  people  have  no  definite  system.  The 
Boodhist  is  the  only  organized  priesiliood  \i\  the  empire,  though  tliere  are  other  .sects. 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON.  201 

eating  liquor.  But  as  it  recognises  no  eternal  and  supreme  Deity, 
leaving  the  universe  to  the  force  of  a  blind  destiny,  it  imposes  no 
adequate  restraint  on  the  depraved  passions  of  its  devotees.  Witli 
many  professions  of  asceticism,  they  show  all  the  vices  with  which 
the  history  of  heathen  nations  is  uniforml}^  darkened.  The  people 
are  naturally  active  and  energetic,  with  acute  minds,  lively  imagina- 
tions, and  a  freedom  of  social  intercourse  unknown  to  most  oriental 
nations,  but  the  debasing  influences  of  an  atheistic  philosophy  and 
a  tj'rannical  government  have  made  them  indolent,  unfeeling, 
suspicious  and  cruel. 

More  than  a  year  elapsed  before  Mr.  Judson  heard  of  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Baptist  General  Convention.  For  three  years  he  was 
busied  in  learning  the  language,  which  is  one  of  peculiar  difficulty, 
and  undertaken,  as  it  was,  without  grammar,  dictionary  or  a  teacher 
speaking  English,  almost  insurmountable.  But  he  had  great  apti- 
tude for  philological  investigation,  and  foreign  as  its  idiom  is  to  the 
mental  habits  of  western  nations,  he  made  the  Burmese  so  much  his 
own  that  he  ultimately  used  it  with  all  the  freedom  of  a  native. 
His  first  labours  were  directed  to  the  preparation  of  a  tract,  entitled 
a  Summary  of  the  Christian  Eeligion.  He  was  commencing  a  trans- 
lation of  the  New-Testament,  when  he  found  himself  so  much 
enfeebled  by  continuous  study  that  he  was  compelled  to  suspend  his 
exertions,  and  think  of  seeking  a  temporary  change  of  climate.  The 
arrival  of  Rev.  George  H.  Hough  at  Rangoon,  to  reinforce  the  mis- 
sion, caused  him  to  relinquish  this  purpose.  Mr.  Hough  brought  a 
printing-press,  the  gift  of  the  Serampore  mission,  by  which  the  tract 
just  mentioned,  and  a  catechism,  were  soon  ready  for  circulation.  A 
translation  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  was  next  undertaken,  and 
printed  in  the  course  of  the  following  year. 

The  tracts  were  not  without  effect  in  calling  the  attention  of  the 
people  to  the  "new  religion."  In  March,  1817,  an  intelligent  man, 
with  great  seriousness  of  manner,  came  to  the  mission-house  as  an 
inquirer,  from  whom  Mr.  Judson  caught  with  grateful  wonder  "the 
first  acknowledgment  of  an  eternal  God  he  had  ever  heard  from  the 
lips  of  a  Burman."  It  was  now  resolved  to  commence  public 
preaching,  and  in  December  Mr.  Judson  sailed  for  Chittagong,  in 
Arracan,  to  obtain  the  services  of  a  native  Christian  as  an  assistant. 
The  vessel  was  driven  out  of  its  course,  and  he  was  landed  at 
Madras,  where  he  was  detained  till  the  June  following.  Great  anx- ' 
ioty  was  excited  at  Rangoon  by  information  from  Chittagong  that 


202  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

the  vessel  had  not  been  heard  from.  To  add  to  the  perplexity  of 
their  situation,  the  missionaries  were  startled  by  a  summons,  couched 
in  menacing  terms,  commanding  Mr.  Hough's  presence  at  the  court- 
house. The  viceroy  had  hitherto  treated  them  with  respect  and 
kindness;  the  change  was  equally  mysterious  and  alarming.  It 
afterwards  appeared  that  a  royal  order  for  the  expulsion  of  three 
Portuguese  priests,  from  the  laxity  of  its  terms,  had  been  held  to 
include  all  foreign  religious  teachers.  After  some  days'  alarm  and 
vexation,  Mr.  Hough  was  released  from  arrest,  but  these  events, 
together  with  rumours  of  a  war  with  the  British  Indian  government, 
excited  such  fear,  that  he  set  sail  for  Bengal,  taking  with  him  the 
chief  part  of  the  printing  apparatus.  Mrs.  Judson  at  first  proposed 
to  share  his  flight,  and  actually  went  on  board  the  vessel,  but  finally 
determined,  though  alone,  and  uncertain  whether  her  husband  was 
living,  to  remain  at  Eangoon,  and  there  await  his  coming,  or  the 
tidings  that  should  confirm  her  darkest  forebodings.  In  a  few  days 
her  heroic  decision  was  rewarded  by  Mr.  Judson's  return,  and  not 
long  after,  Eev.  Messrs.  Colman  and  Wheelock  arrived  from  the 
United  States  to  join  the  mission.  Their  presence  was  hailed  with 
the  liveliest  satisfaction,  but  it  soon  became  painfully  evident 
that  neither  had  the  physical  strength  to  endure  the  toils  of  mis- 
sionary life. 

Though  foiled  in  the  purpose  for  which  his  voj^age  to  Chittagong 
Avas  undertaken,  Mr.  Judson  went  forward  with  his  design  to  attempt 
public  preaching.  The  comparatively  quiet  manner  in  which  the 
mission  had  hitherto  been  conducted  screened  them  from  official 
jealousy,  but  with  a  change  of  policy  this  security  would  be  at  an 
end.  Trusting,  however,  in  the  divine  protection,  the  decisive  step 
was  taken.  A  zayat, — a  building  which  in  Burmah  answers  the 
two-fold  jDurpose  of  an  inn  or  caravansery  and  an  edifice  for  public 
meetings, — was  erected  on  an  eligible  site,  and  opened  for  worship 
in  April,  1819.  A  small  congregation  was  gathered,  and  the  only 
living  and  true  God  was  for  the  first  time  publicly  adored,  and  his 
message  of  mercy  proclaimed,  in  the  Burmese  language. 

The  thirtieth  of  April  was  a  memorable  day :  Moung*  Nau,  the 
first  Burman  convert,  then  made  his  appearance  at  the  zayat.  He 
continued  his  visits  daily,  till  on  the  5th  of  May  Mr.  Judson  recorded 

*  Monvg  and  Ko,  are  titles  in  Burmese  applied  respectively  to  young  and  old  men ; 
Men  and  Ma  having  a  like  application  to  women. 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON".  203 

Lis  confident  hope  that  a  soul  was  truly  won.  "It  seems  almost  too 
much,"  he  says,  "to  believe  that  God  has  begun  to  manifest  his 
grace  to  the  Burmans;  but  this  day  I  could  not  resist  the  delightful 
conviction  that  this  is  really  the  case.  Praise  and  glory  be  to 
HIS  NAME  FOR  EVERMORE.  Amen."  On  the  6th  of  June  Moung 
Nau  presented  a  written  application  for  baptism,  which  was  admin- 
istered on  the  27th  in  "a  large  pond  in  the  vicinity,  the  bank  of 
which  is  graced  with  an  enormous  image  of  Gaudama."  The  first 
success  was  gained,  the  first  living  stone  laid  for  the  spiritual  temple 
that  is  to  glorify  God  in  Burmah. 

Two  additional  converts  were  received  to  the  fellowship  of  the 
church  in  November.  Others  were  inquiring,  among  them  Moung 
Shwa  Gnong,  a  learned  man  and  subtle  reasoner,  who  engaged  Mr. 
Judson  in  animated  discussions  for  a  considerable  time.  At  last  he 
confessed  his  belief  in  the  truths  of  Christianity.  The  viceroy  was 
informed  that  he  had  changed  his  religion.  "Inquire  further,"  was 
his  significant  order.  Moung  Shwa  Gnong  was  terrified.  The  other 
inquirers  shared  his  apprehensions,  and  the  zayat  was  deserted 
except  by  the  three  Christian  Burmans.  Under  these  circumstances, 
an  appeal  to  the  king  appeared  to  the  mission  the  only  resource. 
Fear  restrained  the  people,  and  only  a  pledge  of  toleration  by  the 
government,  it  seemed,  would  enable  them  to  prosecute  their  work 
with  the  hope  of  success. 

Messrs.  Judson  and  Colman  accordingly  set  out,  on  the  22d  of 
December,  to  ascend  the  Irrawadi  to  Amarapoora,  then  the  capital 
of  the  empire.  Mr.  Wheelock  was  no  more,  having  died  in  Auo-ust. 
They  reached  the  "golden  city"*  on  the  25th  of  January.  On  the 
27th,  the  king  having  signified  his  willingness  to  see  them,  they 
repaired  to  the  palace,  taking  with  them  the  Bible  in  six  volumes 
gilded  in  Burman  style,  as  a  present  to  the  king,  a  revised  copy 
of  the  "Summary  of  the  Christian  Eeligion  for  his  majesty's  inform- 
ation, and  a  respectful  prayer  for  toleration.  Moung  Zah,  one  of 
the  chief  ministers,  conducted  them  to  a  magnificent  hall  where 
they  awaited  the  royal  presence.  The  "golden  foot"  approached. 
"He  came,"  says  Mr.  Judson,  "unattended, — in  solitary  grandeur, — 
exhibiting  the  proud  gait  and  majesty  of  an  eastern  monarch."^ — • 
"Ha  strided  on.  Every  head  excepting  ours  was  now  in  the  dust. 
We  remained  kneeling,  our  hands  folded,  our  eyes  fixed  on  the 

*  The  epithet  "golden"  describes  every  thing  royal  in  Burmali. 


9M  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

monarcli.  When  he  drew  near  we  attracted  his  attention.  He 
stopped,  partly  turned  toward  us ; — '  Who  are  these?'  ' The  teachers, 
great  king,'  I  replied.  '  What,  you  speak  Burman ? ' "  After  a  series 
of  questions  respecting  themselves  and  their  nation,  the  petition  was 
read  aloud.  He  took  it  in  his  hand,  and  read  it  deliberately  through. 
Without  saying  a  word,  he  returned  it,  and  took  the  tract.  He  held 
it  lonj?  enousfh  to  read  the  first  two  sentences,  which  affirmed  the 
existence  of  one  eternal  God,  and  dashed  it  to  the  ground.  The 
present  was  unfolded,  but  no  notice  was  taken  of  it.  The  minister 
interpreted  the  royal  silence  in  these  words:  "In  regard  to  the 
objects  of  your  petition,  his  majesty  gives  no  order.  In  regard  to 
your  sacred  books,  his  majesty  has  no  use  for  them;— take  them 
away." 

Some  further  efforts  were  made  to  accomplish  their  purpose,  but 
in  vain.  Exhausted  with  fatigue  and  excitement,  disappointed  of 
their  object,  and  looking  for  the  certain  abandonment  of  their  mis- 
sion, they  returned  to  Rangoon.  On  their  way  they  met  Moung 
Shwa  Gnong,  and  related  the  failure  of  their  petition.  He  showed 
less  alarm  than  they  expected,  and  calmly  reaffirmed  his  faith  in 
Christianity.  At  Rangoon  they  disclosed  their  sad  tidings  to  the 
three  disciples,  and  intimated  their  intention  to  remove  to  the  border 
of  Arracan,  among  a  Burman  population  under  British  protection. 
To  their  surprise,  the  disciples,  so  far  from  being  disheartened,  vied 
with  each  other  in  expressions  of  courageous  zeal.  If  the  missiona- 
ries removed,  they  would  accompany  them ;  if  not,  they  would  stand 
by  them.  They  earnestly  desired  that  Rangoon  might  not  be 
abandoned, — and  it  was  not.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  remained  where 
they  were.  Mr.  Colman  fixed  his  abode  at  Chittagong,  to  provide  a 
retreat  for  them  in  case  of  danger.  But  his  time  was  short.  In  a  little 
more  than  two  years  he  fell  a  martyr  to  the  intensity  of  his  zeal. 

The  missionary  pair  were  alone  at  Rangoon,  but  were  cheered  by 
the  constancy  of  the  disciples  and  the  visits  of  inquirers.  Three 
persons  were  added  to  their  little  church  in  the  spring  and  summer 
of  1820.  The  health  of  Mrs.  Judson  required  a  voyage  to  Bengal, 
in  which  it  was  necessary  that  she  should  be  accompanied  by  her 
husband.  Four  additional  converts,  one  of  them  the  learned  Moun<>- 
Shway  Gnong,  and  another  a  female  disciple,  the  first  of  her  sex  in 
Burmah,  applied  for  baptism,  and  received  the  rite  before  their  depart- 
ure. Thus,  against  all  discouragements,  the  work  went  on.  Thev 
had  acquired  the  language,  a  grammer  and  dictionary  were  com- 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON.  205 

piled,  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  and  some  tracts  had  been  printed,  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  was  translated,  public  worship  established, 
and  in  the  face  of  the  royal  frown  ten  persons  had  made  an  open 
profession  of  Christianity.  After  about  six  months'  residence  in 
Bengal,  the  missionaries  returned  to  Eangoon  in  January,  1821. 
They  were  joyfully  welcomed  by  the  disciples,  who,  though  without 
the  regular  means  of  grace,  and  dispersed  through  fear  of  petty 
officers,  had  continued  steadfast  in  the  faith,  and  another  was  added 
to  their  number  in  March. 

The  improvement  in  Mrs.  Judson's  health  was  transient,  and  in 
the  summer  of  1821  she  visited  America,  where  she  spent  about  a 
year.  The  voyage  was  undertaken  alone,  as  Mr.  Judson  felt  that  in 
the  present  state  of  his  work  he  could  not  leave  Rangoon.  By  the 
publication  of  a  history  of  the  mission,  and  her  personal  appeals,  she 
deepened  the  public  interest  for  its  furtherance,  and  in  her  return 
was  accompanied  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade,  appointed  to  reinforce 
them.  During  her  absence  Mr.  Judson,  besides  forwarding  the 
translation  of  the  New-Testament,  had  gathered  several  converts, 
making  the  whole  number  eighteen.  The  arrival  of  Dr.  Price,  who 
joined  the  mission  soon  after  Mrs.  Judson's  departure,  led  to  another 
visit  to  the  capital,  the  king  having  heard  of  his  medical  skill,  and 
ordered  him  to  report  himself  immediately  at  court.  Mr.  Jud- 
son accompanied  him,  with  the  hope  of  making  a  more  favourable 
impression  respecting  his  missionary  labours.  For  some  time  no 
notice  was  taken  of  him,  except  as  interpreter  to  Dr.  Price,  who 
received  very  kind  attention.  After  three  days'  atendance  at 
the  palace,  his  majesty  condescended  to  ask  some  questions  about 
his  religion,  and  put  the  alarming  interrogatory  whether  any  had 
embraced  it.  The  evasive  answer,  "Not  here,"  would  not  do.  "Are 
there  any  at  Rangoon?"  "There  are  a  few."  "Are  they  Burmans 
or  foreigners?"  The  truth  must  out.  "There  are  some  Burmans 
and  some  foreigners."  The  king  showed  no  displeasure,  but  calmly 
continued  the  conversation. 

By  some  of  the  ministers  and  officers  in  the  court  Mr.  Judson 
was  treated  with  much  consideration,  and  the  claims  of  Christianity 
were  freely  and  candidly  discussed.  The  king  was  pleased  to  direct 
that  the  missionaries  should  remain  at  Ava,*  and  land  was  given 

*  The  capital  had  been  removed  from  Amarapoora  to  Ava,  wliere  it  has  since 
continued. 


206  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

tliem  for  the  erection  of  dwellings.  These  arrangements  having 
been  made,  Mr.  Judson  returned  to  Eangoon.  Here  he  completed 
the  translation  of  the  New-Testament,  and  composed  an  epitome  of 
the  Old,  to  serve  the  converts  till  the  entire  Scriptures  could  be  put 
into  their  hands.  On  the  5th  of  December,  1823,  he  welcomed  Mrs. 
Judson  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade,  and  immediately  removed  with 
his  wife  to  Ava,  "not  knowing  the  things  that  should  befall  them 
there,"  leavino;  Mr.  Houo-h  with  the  new  missionaries  at  Eangoon. 
For  a  little  time  he  preached  in  the  imperial  city,  but  the  work  was 
suddenly  arrested,  and  the  persons  of  the  missionaries  placed  in  great 
peril,  by  the  commencement  of  a  war  with  the  British  East  Indian 
government.  Mrs.  Judson  had  been  warned  of  the  probability  of 
such  an  event  on  her  arrival  at  Calcutta  from  the  United  States,  but 
disregarded  the  advice  of  her  friends  to  forbear  returning  to  Burmah. 
The  storm  burst  sooner  than  had  been  anticipated.  The  encroach- 
ments of  the  Burmans  on  the  terrritories  of  the  East  India  Company 
had  been  long  complained  of,  but  the  king,  with  ignorant  vanity, 
attributed  the  remonstrances  of  the  English  to  fear.  He  collected 
an  army  to  invade  Bengal,  with  instructions  to  bring  the  governor- 
general  in  golden  fetters  to  Ava!  The  English  resolved  to  antici- 
pate his  movements,  and  in  May,  1824,  a  force  of  six  thousand  men, 
under  command  of  Sir  Archibald  Campbell,  attacked  Rangoon. 
The  viceroy  forthwith  ordered  the  arrest  of  every  person  in  town 
"who  wore  a  hat."  Messrs.  Hough  and  Wade  were  seized,  and  con- 
demned to  instant  death,  but  were  reprieved,  and  after  much  suffer- 
ing were  released  by  the  English.  They  then  removed  with  all  speed 
to  Bengal,  where  Mr.  Wade  pursued  the  study  of  the  language,  and 
put  to  press  Mr.  Judson's  Burman  dictionary,  a  work  of  modest 
pretensions,  but  of  no  little  utility. 

For  two  years  no  information  was  received  of  the  fate  of  the 
missionaries  at  Ava.  Whether  they  were  murdered  at  the  first  out- 
break of  hostilities,  or  worn  out  by  slower  tortures,  or  still  lingered 
in  captivity,  could  not  be  conjectured.  The  suspense  was  almost 
intolerable.  And  when  the  silence  was  broken  by  tidings  of  their 
safety,  the  general  joy  was  mingled  with  inexpressible  sympathy, 
at  the  recital  of  sufferings  more  dreadful  than  the  pains  of  death, 
.visited  upon  their  devoted  heads. 

The  intelligence  that  Rangoon  was  taken  caused  a  great  sensation 
at  Ava,  but  it  was  regarded  as   a  mere  surprise.     The  only  fear 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON.  207 

expressed  was,  that  tlie  English  would  run  away  before  they  could 
be  sufficientlj  chastised.  Their  continued  advance  toward  the  capi- 
tal excited  a  strange  fear,  and  the  king  began  to  suspect  that  there 
were  spies  in  the  country,  by  whom  his  movements  were  communi- 
cated to  the  enemy.  Some  English  merchants  were  seized,  and  cast 
into  prison,  it  appearing  that  tney  had  received  early  intimation  of 
the  probability  of  a  war.  The  examination  of  their  papers  disclosed 
the  fact  that  one  of  them  had  paid  the  missionaries  large  sums  of 
money.  Ignorant  of  the  principles  of  exchange,  this  mode  of 
receiving  remittances  from  America  was  regarded  as  proof  that  they 
were  connected  with  the  enemy ;  the  money  was  of  course  received 
from  the  British  government  for  services  rendered.  Mr.  Judson  and 
Dr.  Price  were  arrested,  hurried  to  prison,  heavily  ironed,  and  sub- 
jected to  sufferings  and  privations  which  words  are  inadequate  to 
describe.  Their  houses  were  searched  and  their  property  confiscated, 
but  Mrs.  Judson  succeeded  in  concealing  a  quantity  of  silver,  and 
prevailed  on  the  officers  to  spare  her  a  few  articles  of  farniture. 

Month  after  month  passed  by,  and  this  heroic  woman,  without 
any  earthly  protector,  exhausted  every  contrivance  and  all  means 
of  influence  to  obtain  the  release  of  the  prisoners.  She  appealed  to 
the  officers  of  government,  to  the  jailer,  to  the  ladies  of  the  court; 
valuable  presents  were  extorted  and  evasive  promises  made,  but  all 
was  of  no  avail,  except  to  keep  alive  her  hopes  and  prevent  her 
from  sinking  into  absolute  despair.  The  only  mitigation  she  could 
gain  was  the  temporary  removal  of  her  husband  from  the  poisoned 
air  of  a  crowded  dungeon  to  a  little  bamboo  apartment  in  the  prison - 
yard,  where  she  ministered  to  his  necessities,  and  alleviated  his 
sufferings.  The  prisoners  were  not  supplied  with  food  by  their 
jailors,  and  were  only  saved  from  starvation  by  her  unremitting  care. 
Though  residing  two  miles  from  the  jail,  she  went  daily  on  foot  to 
learn  their  wants  and  devise  means  to  supply  them.  The  future 
was  all  dark.  "The  acme  of  my  distress,"  she  wrote,  "consisted  iu 
the  awful  uncertainty  of  our  final  fate.  My  prevailing  opinion  was, 
that  my  husband  would  suffer  violent  death;  and  that  I  should  of 
course  become  a  slave,  and  languish  out  a  miserable,  though  short 
existence,  in  the  tyrannic  hands  of  some  unfeeling  monster."  All 
her  faculties  were  concentrated  in  the  contemplation  of  their  present 
and  possible  misery.  "  Sometimes,  for  a  moment  or  two,  my  thoughts 
would  glance  toward  America  and  my  beloved  friends  there, — but 
for  nearly  a  year  and  a  half,  soentircl}''  engrossed  was  everv  thought 


208  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

with  present  scenes  and  sufferings,  that  I  seldom  reflected  on  a  sin- 
gle occurrence  of  mj  former  life,  or  recollected  that  I  had  a  friend 
in  existence  out  of  Ava." 

Worse  was  to  come.  The  wretched  prisoners,  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  hot  season,  were  loaded  with  additional  fetters,  and 
thrust  into  the  inner  prison.  The  heat  and  oppressive  atmosphere 
of  the  dungeon  were  too  great  for  endurance,  Mr.  Judson  was 
attacked  with  fever,  and  must  have  looked  for  death  as  a  welcome 
relief  from  his  tortures.  His  wife,  driven  near  to  desparation,  forced 
her  way  to  the  presence  of  the  governor,  who  had  forbidden  her 
admission.  The  old  man  wept  at  her  impassioned  remonstrance. 
"I  knew  you  would  make  me  feel,"  said  he;  "therefore  I  forbade 
your  application."  He  declared  that  he  had  been  repeatedly  ordered 
to  execute  the  prisoners  secretly,  which  he  had  refused  to  do,  but 
that  he  could  not  mitigate  the  severity  with  which  they  were  treated, 
and  must  not  be  asked  to.  That  she  might  at  all  events  be  near  her 
husband,  and  know  the  worst,  she  occupied  a  low  bamboo  hut  in 
the  governor's  enclosure,  near  the  prison-gate,  and  by  incessant 
application  at  last  gained  an  order  for  his  removal  there. 

This  relief  was  transient.  Only  three  days  afterward  the  prisoners 
were  ordered  from  Ava.  The  governor,  anxious  to  spare  Mrs.  Jud- 
son the  dreadful  sight,  sent  for  her,  and  detained  her  in  conversation 
till  it  was  past.  Mr.  Judson  was  stripped  of  nearly  all  his  clothing, 
and  with  his  fellow-sufferers  was  driven  on  foot  towards  the  "death 
prison"  of  Oung-pen-la,  four  miles  from  Amarapoora.  The  sun  was 
insupportably  hot,  he  was  without  hat  or  shoes,  and  his  feet  were 
blistered  by  the  burning  sand  till  the  skin  was  worn  off.  Had  it 
not  been  for  the  humanity  of  the  Bengali  servant  of  an  English 
prisoner,  who  tore  in  two  his  own  head-dress  to  wrap  his  bleeding 
feet,  (with  the  other  half  doing  the  like  service  for  his  master,)  and 
then  bore  him  on  his  shoulders,  he  must  have  fallen  dead  by  the  way. 
This  fate  actually  overtook  one  of  their  number,  at  which  the  officer 
in  charge  halted  for  the  night.  The  wretch  had  a  wife,  who  took 
compassion  on  his  victims,  and  sent  them  some  refreshments.  As 
further  progress  on  foot  was  out  of  the  question,  the  rest  of  the 
journey  was  performed  in  carts. 

Mrs,  Judson,  meanwhile,  ignorant  of  their  destination,  ran  from 
street  to  street  to  find  some  trace  of  them.  The  governor  finally 
told  her  they  were  removed  to  Amarapoora.  "I  can  do  nothing  for 
your  husband,"  he  said;   "take  care  of  yourself."     Regardless  of 


ADONIRAM    JUDS017.  2Q9 

herself,  she  obtained  a  passport,  and  with  her  infant  child,  born  in  the 
midst  of  these  overwhelming  sorrows,  and  a  faithful  Bengali  servant, 
pursued  her  desolate  way  down  the  river,  and  at  night-fall  found 
herself  in  her  husband's  presence.  Half  dead  with  the  tortures  of 
their  march,  the  manacled  prisoners  were  huddled  together  under  a 
narrow  projection  of  a  dilapidated  hovel,  without  a  roof  or  any 
other  sufficient  shelter.  Men  were  busy  trying  to  form  a  partial 
covering  of  leaves.  "Why  have  you  come?"  Mr.  Judson  sadly 
asked;   "you  cannot  live  here." 

With  much  difficulty  she  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  shelter,  such  as 
it  was,  in  the  dwelling  of  the  jailor.  The  next  morning  Mary  Hassel- 
tine,  a  Burman  girl  ado})ted  by  Mrs.  Judson,  was  taken  with  the 
small-pox,  and  required  all  the  attention  she  could  spare  from  her 
husband,  who,  between  his  fever  and  his  mangled  feet,  was  for 
several  days  unable  to  move.  She  immediately  inoculated  the  infant, 
knowing  the  infection  could  not  be  escaped,  but  the  precaution  was 
ineffectual,  and  the  little  one  soon  had  the  disease  it  its  unmitigated 
form,  from  which  it  only  recovered  after  three  months'  sickness. 
Anxiety  and  toil  now  prostrated  the  mother.  She  had  just  strength 
to  go  to  Ava,  and  bring  their  medicine  chest,  which  had  been  left 
behind  in  her  flight,  and  when  she  returned  to  the  jailer's  hut  at 
Oung-pen-la,  fainted  upon  her  mat,  from  which  she  rose  not  for  two 
months.  In  this  extremity,  unable  to  give  nourishment  to  her  babe, 
or  to  procure  a  nurse,  the  jailer  was  bribed  to  release  Mr.  Judson 
from  close  confinement,  who  daily  bore  the  starving  child  round  the 
village,  appealing  to  the  charity  of  such  Burman  mothers  as  had 
young  children,  to  give  it  sustenance.  Thus  they  awaited  the  sen- 
tence of  death  appointed  to  be  executed,  they  knew  not  when,  upon 
all  the  prisoners. 

But  their  doom  was  suddenly  arrested.  The  officer,  by  whose 
advice  the  sentence  was  passed,  had  proposed  to  sacrifice  them  on 
occasion  of  taking  command  against  the  English;  before  his  pur- 
pose was  carried  into  effect,  he  was  disgraced,  and  executed  for  trea- 
son. The  English  forces  were  much  retarded  by  the  difficulties  of 
their  march  and  the  scarcity  of  forage,  but  had  annihilated  army 
after  army  sent  to  resist  them,  and  were  steadily  advancing  on  the 
capital.  The  king  discovered  that  he  was  not  invincible.  Orders 
came  for  the  return  of  the  prisoners  to  Ava,  and  Mr.  Judson  wa.s 
hurried  off  to  the  English  camp,  as  translator  and  interpreter  to  an 
embassy  for  peace.  The  negotiation  was  a  tedious  one,  and  during 
14 


210     •  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

the  months  that  its  slow  length  trailed  between  the  English  head- 
quarters and  the  capital,  Mrs.  Judson  was  brought  so  low  bj  a  vio- 
lent fever,  peculiar  to  the  countr}^,  that  her  life  for  the  time  was 
despaired  of  Once  and  again  the  treaty  was  broken  off  through 
the  revulsion  of  the  king  from  the  humiliating  conditions  imposed 
upon  him.  But  the  certainty  that  the  "  white  foreigners  "  would  soon 
be  in  the  "golden  city"  unless  their  demands  were  complied  with, 
tamed  his  impotent  pride.  With  a  very  bad  grace  he  agreed  to  pay 
a  large  pecuniary  indemnity,  and  to  cede  Arracan  and  the  Tenasse- 
rim  provinces  to  the  English,  stripping  himself  of  the  chief  portion 
of  his  sea-coast.  He  also  stipulated  that  the  missionaries  might 
retire  in  safety  to  the  British  provinces,  a  step  which  they  were  quite 
ready  to  take,  after  their  unimaginable  sufferings  under  his  author- 
ity. They  were  solicited,  indeed — for  the  negotiation  had  taught 
the  king  to  value  their  services — to  continue  at  the  court,  and 
assured  that  they  should  become  "great  men."  Dr.  Price,  con- 
fident that  his  medical  character  would  secure  his  personal  safety, 
remained  at  Ava  to  carry  forward  the  mission.  He  gathered  a 
school,  including  many  young  men  of  rank,  and  preached  regularly 
to  a  small  congregation.  His  prospects  seemed  bright,  but  pulmo- 
nary consumption  cut  him  down  while  the  fruits  of  his  ministry 
were  yet  immature.  His  associates  gladly  turned  away  from  Ava, 
the  one  to  pursue  his  life's  task  among  the  Burmans  under  British 
protection,  the  other  to  rest  in  a  premature  grave  from  sufferings 
that  had  knit  them  together  by  no  common  ties  of  sympathy,  and 
added  a  new  page  to  the  history  of  female  heroism. 

The  little  flock  of  disciples  at  Rangoon  was  scattered,  and  several 
of  them  were  dead.  The  survivors  removed  with  their  teachers,  in 
the  summer  of  1826,  to  Amherst,  a  new  town,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Salwen,  in  British  Burmah.  Here  Mr.  Judson  hoped  to  devote 
himself  unreservedly  to  missionary  work.  But  at  the  solicitation 
of  Mr.  Crawfurd,  commissioner  of  the  British  East  Indian  govern- 
ment, he  accompanied  an  embassy  to  Ava  for  negotiating  a  commer- 
cial treaty,  to  procure,  if  possible,  the  insertion  of  a  guaranty  for 
religious  freedom  in  the  king's  dominions.  This,  which  alone  recon- 
ciled him  to  so  long  an  absence  from  his  chosen  work,  and  from  a 
home  that  claimed  his  presence  more  imperatively  than  he  conceived, 
entirely  failed,  and  after  several  months'  detention  he  returned  to 
Amherst, — to   find   his   house   desolate.      Mrs.  Judson,   very  soon 


AD  ON  IRA  M    JUDSON.  211 

after  liis  departure,  had  been  seized  with  a  fever  that  her  enfeebled 
constitution  was  ill-fitted  to  resist,  and  sunk  into  the  grave  after  an 
illness  of  eighteen  days.  The  dreadful  tidings  were  conveyed  to 
him  at  Ava, — the  more  insupportable  because  he  was  wholly  unpre- 
pared for  them,  his  last  intelligence  having  assured  him  of  her  per- 
fect health.  From  the  native  Christians  who  surrounded  her  death- 
bed, and  the  physician,  who  did  all  that  skill  could  do  for  her 
recovery,  he  heard  of  the  celestial  peace  that  sustained  her  depart- 
ing spirit.  His  only  child  soon  followed  her  mother,  and  he  was 
left  a  solitary  mourner.  His  cup  of  sorrow  seemed  full.  The  heart 
which  had  sustained  all  that  barbarian  cruelty  could  inflict,  was 
well-nigh  crushed  by  this  total  bereavement. 

Though  the  life  of  Mrs.  Judson  was,  as  it  seemed,  prematurely 
closed,  it  was  long  enough  to  exhibit  a  character  which,  in  some  of 
its  elements,  has  no  parallel  in  female  biography.  Capacities  for 
exertion  and  endurance,  such  as  few  men  have  brought  to  great 
enterprises,  were  united  to  the  most  engaging  feminine  qualities, 
fitting  her  at  once  to  cheer  the  domestic  retirement  of  her  husband, 
and  to  share  his  most  overwhelming  trials  and  dangers.  The  record 
of  her  deeds  and  sufferings  has  moved  the  hearts  of  myriads  in  this 
and  other  lands,  and  her  memory  is  immortal  as  the  sympathies  of 
our  common  humanity. 

But  the  bereaved  missionary  sank  not  in  inconsolable  grief. 
Looking  to  the  eternal  hills  for  help,  he  nerved  himself  anew  to  the 
fulfilment  of  his  appointed  ministry.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wade  had 
reached  Amherst  shortly  before  the  return  of  Mr.  Judson  from  Ava, 
and  with  them  Rev.  George  D.  Boardman  and  wife,  who  had  arrived 
in  Bengal  during  the  war.  Besides  the  original  population  of  Brit- 
ish Burmah,  the  provinces  were  the  resort  of  constant  emigration, 
and  Amherst  grew  rapidly  into  a  considerable  town.  But  the  govern- 
ment was  soon  transferred  to  Maulmain,  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
Salwen,  about  twenty-five  miles  from  its  mouth.  The  mission  fol- 
lowed in  the  course  of  the  3'ear  1827,  and  has  since  been  permanently 
established  in  that  city. 

There  the  work  went  rapidly  forward.  Schools  were  set  up,  two 
or  three  houses  of  worship  were  opened,  and  during  the  years  1827 
and  1828,  between  thirty  and  forty  converts  were  added  to  the 
church.  The  Tavoy  station  was  commenced  b}^  Mr.  Boardman, 
under  whose  auspices  Christianity  began  to  be  communicated  to  the 
Karens,  among  whom  it  has  since  made  such  progress  as  to  astonish 


212  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

the  Cliristian  world.  Dr.*  Judson  continued  at  Maulmain  till  the 
summer  of  1830.  Besides  the  ordinary  duties  of  preaching  and 
teaching,  he  thoroughly  revised  the  New-Testament,  and  prepared 
twelve  smaller  works  in  Burmese.  In  the  spring  of  1830,  Mr. 
Wade  visited  Eangoon,  the  success  of  a  native  preacher  having 
made  the  presence  of  a  missionary  desirable.  His  health  did  not 
admit  of  a  residence  in  that  climate,  and  Dr.  Judson,  who  had  not 
ceased  to  cherish  a  deep  interest  in  the  progress  of  Christianity  in 
Burmah  Proper,  repaired  thither  in  May.  He  found  a  prevalent 
spirit  of  inquiry,  and  resolved  to  penetrate  into  the  interior.  He 
accordingly  went  up  the  Irrawadi  to  Prome.  His  boat  at  every 
landing  was  visited  by  persons  eager  for  books.  Converts  whom 
he  had  lost  sight  of  for  years  greeted  him  at  one  or  two  places  as 
he  passed,  and  he  heard  of  the  conversion  of  others  whom  he  had 
never  seen,  but  who  had  derived  their  knowledge  of  the  truth  indi- 
rectly from  his  instructions.  For  a  month  or  two  he  had  numerous 
auditors,  a  few  of  whom  seemed  to  have  cordially  received  the  word. 
Then  came  a  sudden  and  mysterious  reaction.  The  zayat  was  nearly 
deserted.  People  seemed  afraid  to  converse  with  him.  This  state 
of  things  continuing  till  autumn,  he  regarded  his  work  in  Prome  as 
finished  for  the  present,  and  returned  to  Rangoon,  confident  that  the 
now  rejected  truth  would  bear  fruit  in  due  season.  It  appeared  that 
the  king  had  given  orders  for  his  expulsion,  but  that  the  governor, 
under  the  influence  of  some  unaccountable  awe  of  him,  had  not 
ventured  to  execute  them. 

At  Rangoon  he  gave  himself  to  the  translation  of  the  entire 
Scriptures.  He  shut  himself  into  an  upper  chamber,  leaving  a 
native  evangelist  to  receive  inquirers,  admitting  only  the  most  prom- 
ising to  his  own  apartment.  In  spite  of  the  known  displeasure  of 
the  king,  nearly  half  his  time  was  absorbed  in  these  interviews. 
The  spirit  of  inquiry  deepened  and  widened  -through  all  the  sur- 
rounding country.  During  the  great  festival  in  honour  of  Gaudama, 
held  near  the  close  of  the  following  winter,  there  were  as  man}'  as 
six  thousand  applications  at  his  house  for  tracts.  Some  came  from 
the  borders  of  Siam  or  the  far  north,  saying,  "Sir,  we  have  seen  a 
writing  that  tells  about  an  eternal  God.     Are  you  the  man  that 

*  The.  degree  of  Doctor  in  Divinity  was  conferred  on  Mr.  Judson  by  Brown 
University  in  1823.  He  subsequently  declined  the  title,  but  its  application  to  him 
was  continued,  and  during  tne  Inter  years  of  his  life  was  silently  acquiesced  in, 
though  he  never  retracted  his  original  declination. 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON.  213 

gives  away  such  writings?  Pray,  give  us  one,  for  we  want  to  know  the 
truth  before  we  die."  Or  some  from  the  interior,  who  had  barely  heard 
the  name  of  the  Saviour,  would  say,  "Are  you  Jesus  Christ's  man? 
Give  us  a  writing  that  tells  about  Jesus  Christ."  The  press  at  Maul- 
main  worked  day  and  night,  but  could  not  meet  the  demands  from 
all  quarters. 

In  the  summer  of  1831,  in  consequence  of  the  infirm  state  of  Mr. 
Wade's  health,  he  removed  to  Maulmain,  and  Mr.  Wade,  after  a  few 
months'  respite,  took  his  place  at  Eangoon.  At  Maulmain  Dr.  Jud- 
son  prosecuted  the  work  of  translation,  but  still  preached  in  the 
city  and  the  jungles.  On  the  last  day  of  January,  1834,  he  com- 
pleted the  task  with  which  he  might  have  rejoiced  to  seal  up  his 
earthly  mission, — the  Bible  in  the  Burmese  language.  No  words 
can  more  fitly  describe  the  emotions  of  that  hour  than  his  own: 
"Thanks  to  God,  I  can  now  say,  I  have  attained.  I  have  knelt 
down  before  Him,  with  the  last  leaf  in  my  hand,  and  imploring  his 
forgiveness  for  all  the  sins  which  have  polluted  my  labours  in  this 
department,  and  his  aid  in  removing  the  errors  and  imperfections 
which  necessarily  cleave  to  the  work,  I  have  commended  it  to  his 
mercy  and  grace.  I  have  dedicated  it  to  his  glory.  May  he  make 
his  own  inspired  word,  now  complete  in  the  Burman  tongue,  the 
grand  instrument  of  filling  all  Burmah  with  songs  of  praise  to  our 
great  God  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ.  Amen."  Few,  comparatively, 
of  the  myriads  in  whose  behalf  the  great  work  was  undertaken, 
had  a  thought  of  the  sublime  transaction  of  that  hour,  and  none  but 
he  to  whose  supreme  glory  it  was  dedicated,  could  fully  apprehend 
the  ultimate  issues  of  the  event.  The  kneeling  missionary  alone, 
with  the  last  leaf  of  the  translated  Bible,  humbly  and  gratefully 
offering  it  before  the  Divine  Majesty,  has  been  suggested  as  a  sub- 
iect  for  the  pencil.  But  he  must  be  an  artist  elevated  to  more  than 
a  common  measure  of  celestial  sympathy,  who  shall  worthily  repre- 
sent to  our  senses  a  triumph  so  purely  spiritual. 

In  April  of  this  year  Dr.  Judson  was  united  in  marriage  with 
Mrs.  Boardman;  who,  after  the  lamented  death  of  her  husband, 
had  given  herself  with  unyielding  devotion  to  the  blessed  work  in 
which  he  so  triumphantly  passed  away,  and  through  all  her  mis- 
sionary career  showed  a  spirit  nearly  kindred  to  that  of  the  "minis- 
tering angel"  to  the  prisoners  of  Ava. 

For  some  years  he  was  engaged  in  the  revision  of  the  Scriptures, 


214  AD  ON  I  RAM    JUDSON. 

dividing  his  time  between  this  and  the  superintendence  of  the  native 
church  at  Maulmain.  The  steady  increase  of  the  churches  in  num- 
bers and  in  knowledge  was  an  ample  reward  for  all  his  toils,  while 
the  reinforcement  of  the  missions,  and  their  extension  into  Siam  and 
Assam,  filled  him  with  gladness  in  the  prospect  of  the  future.  The 
arrival  of  fourteen  missionaries  in  1836,  accompanied  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Malcom,  who  was  commissioned  by  the  Board  to  visit  their  stations 
in  Asia,  was  an  occasion  of  special  joy.  The  conferences  held,  the 
plans  devised,  the  recollections  and  hopes  awakened  at  this  season, 
must  have  made  it  memorable  to  them  all.  Since  the  lonely  pio- 
neer landed  in  doubt  and  apprehension  at  Rangoon,  more  than 
twenty  years  of  labour  and  suffering  had  passed  over  his  head. 
Not  one  witness  of  his  earlier  struggles,  not  one  sharer  of  his  many 
fears  and  sorrows  and  of  their  precious  compensations,  stood  by  his 
side.  But  a  host,  comparatively,  had  succeeded,  to  carry  forward 
by  their  united  strength  the  work  begun  in  weakness,  and  not  less 
than  a  thousand  souls  redeemed  from  the  bondage  of  idolatry 
attested  the  divine  presence  and  benediction. 

In  1838  his  enfeebled  health  compelled  a  change  of  air,  and  he 
visited  Bengal.  But  the  ardour  of  his  spirit  drove  him  back  to  his 
station  without  any  visible  change  for  the  better.  The  Board 
invited  him  to  visit  the  United  States,  which  he  gratefully  but  firmly 
declined.  The  revision  of  the  Scriptures  was  finished  in  18-40,  and 
a  second  edition  was  put  to  press.  A  recent  writer  in  the  Calcutta 
Review,  understood  to  be  well  qualified  to  pass  judgment  in  this 
matter,  hazards  '"the  prediction,  that  as  Luther's  Bible  is  now  in  the 
hands  of  Protestant  Germany,  so,  three  centuries  hence,  Judson's 
Bible  will  be  the  Bible  of  the  Christian  churches  of  Burmah."  In 
the  summer  of  18-41  he  found  it  needful,  for  the  sake  of  his  family 
and  himself,  to  make  another  voyage.  They  went  to  Bengal,  where 
he  was  compelled  to  bury  his  youngest  child,  proceeded  to  the  Isle 
of  France,  and  thence  i-eturned  to  Maulmain,  where  they  arrived, 
much  invigorated,  in  December. 

The  next  year  saw  him  engaged  in  another  important  undertak- 
ing,— the  compilation  of  a  complete  dictionary  of  the  Burmese 
language.  He  was  reluctant  to  be  diverted  from  his  ministerial 
labours  by  any  further  literary  tasks,  but  yielded  to  the  solicitation 
of  the  Board,  and  to  a  conviction  of  the  importance  of  the  work. 
His.  plan  contemplated  two  complete  vocabularies — Burmese  and 
English,  and  English  and  Burmese.    It  was  interrupted  by  the  illness 


ADONIRAM    JUDSON.  215 

of  Mrs.  Judson.  A  voyage  along  tlie  Tenasserim  coast  proved  inef- 
fectual for  her  recovery,  and  in  the  spring  of  1845  her  helpless  state 
appeared  to  demand  a  visit  to  the  United  States.  In  announcing 
this  purpose  Dr.  Judson  warned  the  Board  that  he  must  not  be 
expected  to  address  public  assemblies,  as  the  weakness  of  his  lungs 
forbade  such  exertion,  and  for  a  reason  which  shall  be  stated  in  his 
own  words:  "In  order  to  become  an  acceptable  and  eloquent 
preacher  in  a  foreign  language,  I  deliberately  abjured  my  own. 
When  I  crossed  the  river,  I  burnt  my  ships. — From  long  desuetude. 
I  can  scarcely  put  three  sentences  together  in  the  English  language."- 
Taking  with  him  his  family,  and  two  native  assistants  to  carry  for- 
ward his  dictionary  during  his  visit,  he  embarked  for  Boston  on  the 
26th  of  April.  On  arriving  at  Mauritius,  Mrs.  Judson  was  so  far 
revived  that  it  was  thought  she  might  safely  proceed  without  her 
husband.  The  assistants  were  sent  back,  and  he  was  about  to  follow 
them,  but  the  day  before  her  reembarkation  she  suffered  a  relapse, 
which  determined  him  to  go  on  with  her.  She  grew  weaker  from 
day  to  day,  and  it  seemed  that  she  must  find  a  grave  in  the  deep, 
but  her  life  was  spared  till  they  reached  St.  Helena.  With  an 
unclouded  prospect  of  the  heavenly  felicity,  her  soul  parted  serenely 
from  earth  and  all  earthly  ties.  Her  mortal  remains  were  commit- 
ted to  the  dust  on  the  first  of  September,  and  the  twice-widowed 
missionary  tore  himself  away,  to  guide  his  motherless  children  to 
the  land  of  their  fathers. 

He  arrived  at  Boston  on  the  15th  of  October.  A  thrill  of  solemn 
and  grateful  emotion  was  felt  in  every  part  of  the  land,  and  found 
expression  in  countless  forms.  On  the  evening  of  the  third  day  after 
he  landed,  a  large  assembly  was  gathered,  and  the  venerable  Presi- 
dent of  the  Board,  Bev.  Dr.  Sharp,  addressed  him  in  appropriate 
words  of  welcome.  More  touching  was  the  hearty  embrace  of  Bev. 
Samuel  Nott,  jr.,  from  whom  he  had  parted  more  than  thirty  years 
before;  who  had  privately  and  publicly  attested  his  unabated  Chris- 
tian afi'ection  since  the  change  that  caused  their  paths  to  diverge ; 
who  heard,  in  his  enforced  retirement  from  missionary  service,  of  the 
arrival  of  his  youthful  associate  and  honoured  colleague,  and  had  has- 
tened to  greet  him.  Pressing  through  the  congregation,  he  made 
himself  known.  Who  can  guess  what  thoughts  of  the  past  crowded 
their  minds  and  subdued  their  hearts,  at  this  unlooked-for  meeting! 

*  This  was,  of  course,  limited  to  speech,  for  through  his  whole  life  he  wrote  his 
native  language  in  a  style  of  great  purity  and  force. 


216  ADONIRAM    JUDSON. 

Dr,  Judson  attended  a  special  meeting  of  the  Ba])tist  General  Con- 
vention, called  together  in  consequence  of  the  separation  of  the 
Southern  churches, — his  first  interview  with  a  body  called  into 
existence  by  his  instrumentality, — and  there  received  a  more  formal 
and  memorable  welcome.  Though  forbidden  to  speak  in  public,  a 
proposition  to  abandon  the  Arracan  mission  drew  from  his  lips  a 
fervent  protest,  which,  seconded  by  other  missionaries  present,  deter- 
mined the  Convention  to  retain  all  their  stations  in  the  east.  By 
other  public  assemblies  in  the  principal  cities,  he  was  received  in  a 
manner  that  told  how  deeply  the  story  of  his  labours  and  sufferings 
had  imprinted  itself  on  the  hearts  of  the  people.  Thus  attracting  to 
himself  the  affectionate  sympathy  of  thousands,  and  kindling  higher 
by  his  presence  the  flame  of  missionary  zeal,  refreshing  his  spirit  by 
the  amenities  of  friendship,  and  recalling  the  memories  of  youth  by 
visiting  its  most  cherished  scenes,  he  continued  in  the  land  of  his 
nativity  till  the  11th  of  July,  1816,  when  he  once  more  set  his  face 
toward  the  field  of  his  struggles  and  triumphs.  He  went  not  alone. 
A  third  gentle  spirit  gave  her  affections  to  soothe  and  her  energies 
to  sustain  his  soul,  in  the  years  of  labour  and  suffering  that  awaited 
him.*  This  is  not  the  place  or  the  time  to  do  honour  to  the 
living;- — may  it  be  long  before  the  pen  shall  be  summoned  to  recall 
into  memor}^  the  departed!  Several  new  missionaries  accompanied 
them,  and  they  arrived  safely  at  Maulmain  in  December. 

A  revolution  having  taken  place  in  Burmah,  Dr.  Judson  removed 
to  Kangoou,  the  only  city  in  the  king's  dominions  where  foreigners 
were  permitted  to  reside.  He  found  it  impossible  to  do  anything 
efficiently  unless  he  could  obtain  some  countenance  at  Ava,  but 
having  no  means  at  his  disposal  to  undertake  the  journey  at  that 
time,  he  was  obliged  to  resign  all  hope  in  that  quarter,  and  go  back 
to  Maulmain,  and  to  his  dictionary.  Besides  his  literary  tasks,  he 
assumed  the  pastoral  care  of  the  Burman  church,  and  preached  once 
on  a  Sabbath.  In  these  pursuits  he  continued  with  his  wonted  dili- 
gence, till  disease  laid  its  hand  upon  him  in  the  autumn  of  1849. f 

*  Dr.  Judson  was  married  June  2,  1846,  to  Miss  Emily  Cliubbuck,  of  Utica,  N.  Y. 

f  The  English  and  Burmese  Dictionary  was  finished,  and  has  been  printed.  The 
Burmese  and  English  Dictionary  was  considerably  advanced,  and  the  manuscripts 
h  .ve  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  one  of  his  younger  colleagues,  Rev.  E.  A.  Stevens, 
for  completion. 


A  DON  IE  AM    JUDSON.  217 

A  severe  cold  in  tlie  month  of  September  was  followed  by  a  fever 
that  prostrated  his  strength.  A  voyage  on  the  eoast  and  sea-bathing 
at  Amherst  failed  to  restore  his  wasted  energies,  and  he  returned  to 
Maulmain  in  a  declining  state.  His  sufferings  were  extreme,  but 
his  mind  was  peaceful,  and  his  habitual  conversation  was  filled  with 
the  spirit  of  heaven.  "The  love  of  Christ "  was  his  absorbing  theme, 
and  love  to  his  brethren  in  Christ  dwelt  on  his  lips  and  breathed  in 
his  constant  prayers.  Though  ready  to  depart,  if  so  it  should  please 
God,  he  yet  longed  to  do  more  for  Burmah,- — to  finish  the  wearisome 
toil  of  literary  investigation,  and  spare  a  few  3'ears  for  the  more 
delightful  work  of  preaching  to  the  heathen.  For  this  his  exhausted 
nature  struggled  to  the  last,  and  when  all  hope  of  recovery  at  Maul- 
main was  lost,  on  the  third  of  April,  1850,  he  bade  farewell  to  his 
anxious  companion,  whose  feeble  health  forbade  her  to  accompany 
him,  and  with  a  single  attendant  set  out  on  a  voyage  for  the  Isle  of 
Bourbon.  The  passage  down  the  river  was  slow,  and  he  nearly 
sunk  under  the  combined  force  of  disease  and  the  suffocating  atmos- 
phere. Once  upon  the  sea  he  revived,  and  the  pilot-boat  bore  back 
a  message  full  of  hope.  The  relief  was  momentary.  For  three 
days  he  endured  indescribable  sufferings,  that  extorted  from  his  lips 
the  exclamation,  "0  that  I  could  die  at  once,  and  go  directly  to 
Paradise,  where  there  is  no  pain !"  To  the  question  whether  he  felt 
the  presence  of  the  Saviour,  he  quickly  replied,  "0,  yes;  it  is  all 
right,  there!  I  believe  He  gives  me  just  so  much  pain  and  suffering 
as  is  necessary  to  fit  me  to  die, — to  make  me  submissive  to  his  will." 
For  the  last  day  and  a  half  his  agonies  were  dreadful  to  behold.  In 
this  state  he  continued  till  a  few  minutes  before  the  o-oinsr  out  of  life. 
Then  he  was  calm,  and  apparently  free  from  pain.  His  last  words 
were  in  remembrance  of  her  from  whom  he  had  parted  in  so  much 
uncertainty  a  few  da3'S  before,  and  a  hurried  direction  for  his  burial. 
Then,  gradually  sinking,  he  "fell  asleep"  on  the  afternoon  of  April 
12th,  and  his  mortal  remains  were  committed  to  the  deep,  thence  to 
be  raised  incorruptible,  when  the  sea  shall  give  up  its  dead. 

Dr.  Judson  combined  in  his  experience  the  toils  and  sufferings  of 
a  missionary  pioneer,  with  the  amplest  rewards  of  missionary  success. 
Often  have  men,  in  a  spirit  of  heroic  courage  and  constancy,  strug- 
gled with  the  first,  and  departed  without  enjoying  the  last.  But  he 
who  under  cover  of  twilight  baptized  the  first  Burman  convert,  lived 
to  see  twenty-six  churches  gathered,  with  nearly  five  thousand  com- 


218  ADONIKAM    Jl'DSOiN'. 

municants,  the  entire  Bible  in  one  vernacular,  and  the  New-Testament 
in  others;  and  the  missions,  by  the  aid  of  a  regular  native  ministry, 
extending  on  every  side.  He  was  not  required  to  look  for  the  con- 
firmation of  his  faith  to  promise  and  prophecy  alone,  but  was  per- 
mitted to  enjoy  in  his  lifetime  a  fullness  of  success  exceeding  his 
fondest  hopes. 

So  long  and  fortunate  a  career  developed  and  displayed  a  charac- 
ter, whose  portraiture  would  have  been  incomplete  had  his  term  of 
service  been  more  brief.  Had  the  tortures  of  Ava  and  Oung-pen-la 
formed  the  tragic  catastrophe  of  his  life,  instead  of  a  discipline  for 
continued  action  and  final  triumph,  we  should  indeed  have  seen  in 
him  the  patient  and  discriminating  scholar,  the  unselfish  philanthro- 
pist, the  death-defying  hero,  with  energy  superior  to  all  obstacles, 
constancy  unshaken  by  reverses,  fortitude  immovable  by  extremest 
cruelty.  But  how  attractively  the  stern  features  of  his  character 
were  chastened  by  milder  graces, — how  much  beauty  mingled  with 
his  strength,  how  finely  gentleness  was  interfused  with  courage,  and 
humility  with  firmness, — what  depths  of  sensibility  lay  beneath 
heights  of  more  than  stoical  endurance, — what  soundness  of  judg- 
ment was  united  with  ready  impulse  and  imaginative  ardour, — and 
how  solidly  his  manly  enterprise  was  founded  on  the  elements  of 
a  child-like  piety,  and  guided  by  aspirations  after  holiness  that  kept 
his  eye  ever  on  his  divine  Master  and  Example, — these  might  have 
remained  unknown  till  the  last  day  should  reveal  them.  Happily 
for  him  and  for  mankind,  it  was  otherwise  ordered.  Peace  set- 
tled upon  his  pathway,  which  declined  gently  to  the  brink  of  tlie 
deep  that  hid  him  from  mortal  sight.  The  furnace  of  afQiction 
seemed  heated  for  him  seven-fold,  but  the  flame  only  purified  his 
sterling  nature.  Clouds  gathered  darkly  about  his  prime,  but  tlie 
sun  broke  through  and  transfigured  them  all,  to  add  splendour  to 
the  descending  day.  The  night  brought  no  darkness  for  him. 
Though  beyond  our  visible  horizon, 

He  is  not  lost, — he  hath  not  passea  away, — 
Clouds,  earths,  may  pass, — but  stars  shine  calmly  on; 

And  he  who  doth  the  will  of  God,  for  aye 
Abideth,  when  the  earth  and  heaven  are  gone. 


GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN. 


L  Those  wlicX  were  contemporary  with  the  early  history  of  the  Bur- 
man  Mission,  will  not  forget  the  interest  with  which  tne  churches 
engaged  in  its  support,  hailed  the  accession  to  it  of  Wti  young  men 
of  BostonJof  ardent  piety,  warm  Christian  zeal,  and  great  promise 
of  usefulness,  /nor  the  universal  sorrow  which  pervaded  those 
churches  at  the  intelligence  of  tfi^  untimely  deathj  Wheelock, 
sinking  in  consumption,  while  on  a  voyage  to  Bengal  in  hope  of 
receiving  some  benefit  from  the  change  of  air,  in  a  paroxysm  of 
delirium  threw  himself  overboard,  and  perished.  (Colman  was  de- 
tached from  Rangoon,  to  establish  a  station  in  Chittagong,  a  British 
province  adjacent  to  the  Burman  empire.  Within  a  few  short 
months  of  his  entering  upon  this  enterprise,  a  fever  incident  to  a 
sickly  clime,  in  a  moment  prostrated  all  the  hopes  that  hung  upon 
it.  ''Colman  is  gone,"  was  the  mournful  echo  which  pierced  many 
hearts  in  America:  among  whom  was  a  young  man  of  talents  and 
promise,  who  had,  to  human  eyes,  just  entered  upon  a  career  of 
honourable  usefulness,  as  an  officer  and  instructor  in  Waterville 
College,  Maine.  He  heard  the  sorrowful  tidings  of  the  bereavement 
of  that  cherished  mission:  he  heard  the  call,  "Whom  shall  we  send, 
and  who  will  go  for  us?" — and  promptly,  and  from  his  heart,  he 
responded,  '"'' Here  am  i, — send  meJ^\ 

George  Dana  BoARDMANJson  of  Rev.  Sylvan  us  Boardman,Vwas 
born  in  Livermore,  Me.,  February  8,  1801.  ;  His  opportunities  for 
intellectual  improvement  were  limited,  until  1810,  when  his  parents 
i-emoved  to  North  Yarmouth.  In  the  academy  at  this  place  he  made 
]-apid  progress  in  study.  As  early  as  at  twelve  years  of  age,  he  had 
resolved  upon  a  collegiate  education.  In  1816,  he  was  placed  for 
a  time  in  the  academy  in  Farmington,  where  he  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  proficiency  in  every  branch  of  study,  and  secured  for 
himself  the  respect  and  confidence  of  his  preceptor,  which  he  ever 
afterwards  retained. 


[} 


220  GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN". 

"From  a  cliild, "  says  his  father,  "he  professed  strong  passions,  but 
not  turbulent;  was  fond  of  pleasure,  but  more  fond  of  books.,  His 
health,  after  the  age  of  three  or  four  years,  was  generally  good,  and, 
till  after  his  close  application  to  study,  he  bid  fair  to  be  very  strong 
and  athletic;  but  after  the  age  of  about  fifteen,  he  grew  tall,  spare, 
and  delicate." 

In  his  sixteenth  year  he  commenced  teaching,  which  he  pursued 
for  several  years  with  much  success,  in  connection  with  his  academic 
studies.  In  May,  1819,  he  entered  the  Waterville  Seminary,  (which 
about  one  year  later  was  incorporated  as  a  College)  at  which,  in 
1822,  he  was  graduated,  and  immediatelyappointed  tutor. 

When  young  Boardman  entered  upon  his  studies  at  Waterville, 
he  was  regarded  as  a  youth  of  promising  talents,  amiable  in  his 
character,  ambitious  in  his  feeling,  of  high  aims  and  purposes,  but 
of  none  looking  beyond  worldly  distinction.  In  the  first  year  of 
his  residence  there,  all  his  aims  received  a  new  direction  by  his  con- 
version. The  progress  of  his  convictions  may  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing brief  extracts  from  his  journal : 

"At  this  time  my  attachment  to  Christians  became  more  ardent. 
While  I  witnessed  their  devotions,  I  longed  to  fall  on  my  knees, 
and  pour  out  my  heart  with  them  in  prayer.  Soon  after,  I  became 
oppressed  with  fear  lest  I  should  be  a  hypocrite.  *  *  *  Christians 
began  to  speak  to  me  in  encouraging  terms.  But  the  efiect  was 
only  to  increase  my  distress,  as  I  now  thought  that  I  had  deceived 
them.  I  resolved  never  to  hope  until  I  had  reason  to  hope,  and 
until  I  could  even  say,  /  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveih.  I  now  felt 
the  keenest  distress,  for  I  was,  in  my  own  estimation,  a  hypocrite, 
and  a  most  heinous  sinner.  *  *  *  At  length,  a  person  whose  piety 
I  could  not  doubt,  related  to  me  his  Christian  experience.  I  traced 
the  progress  of  his  exercises,  and  wondered  at  the  apparent  simi- 
larity of  his  experience  and  my  own.  Still  I  expected  to  hear  him 
speak  of  some  more  wonderful  manifestations  of  divine  things,  of 
more  deep  convictions,  and  the  like.  And  when  he  came  to  the 
time  when  he  obtained  hope,  'What!'  thought  I,  'is  this  a  Christian 
experience?'  I  have  felt  nearly  all  which  he  has  expressed." — Mr. 
Boardman's  journal  and  correspondence  after  this  period,  however, 
indicate  a  high  degree  of  religious  enjoyment,  and  a  rapid  progress 
in  religious  development.  Soon  after  his  profession  of  religion, 
(which  he  made  in  July,  1820,)  he  writes  in  reference  to  it: — "An 
awful  sense  of  my  total  unv/orthiness  would  have  restrained  my 


GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN.  221 

Steps,  had  not  the  voice  of  duty  called  me  to  go  forward.  Encour- 
aged by  the  word  of  the  Saviour  in  whom  I  trust,  I  cheerfullj^ 
submitted  to  the  ordinance  of  baptism.  In  the  afternoon  I  sat  down, 
un  worth  J'-  as  I  am,  at  the  table  of  the  Lord.  I  never  experienced 
such  a  season  before.  The  love  of  Christ  appeared  truly  incompre- 
hensible. My  heart  throbbed  with  jo}"-,  while  my  eyes  were  suffused 
with  tears.  Since  that  time,  I  have,  in  general,  enjoj'ed  a  sweet 
composure  of  mind,  till  yesterday,  when  the  discourse  from  the  pul- 
pit became  so  deeply  interesting  that  I  almost  fimcied  myself  disem- 
bodied from  the  flesh,  and  desired  to  depart  and  to  be  with  Christ." 
Yet  we  do  not  always  find  him  in  the  same  ecstatic  state  of  mind. 
Clouds  sometimes  obscured  his  spiritual  prospects,  and  the  sense  of 
indwelling  corruption,  which  is  really  an  index  of  the  indwelling 
spirit,  awakened  in  him  acute  sorrow  of  heart. 

The  germ  of  that  ministerial  and  missionary  activitj^,  which 
formed  the  marked  trait  of  Mr.  Boardman's  subsequent  life,  devel- 
oped itself  at  college,  immediately  upon  his  conversion.  During 
his  residence  at  Waterville,  his  labours  for  the  spiritual  good  of  the 
surrounding  population  were  assiduous.  The  feeling  which  pos- 
sessed him  from  the  day  of  his  conversion  was,  that  he  belonged  to 
Christ,  and  his  earliest  and  constant  prayer  was,  "Lord,  what  wilt 
thou  have  me  to  do?"  His  great  desire  was  to  be  personally  and 
directly  iiseful  to  the  souls  of  men.  His  thoughts  were  early  directed 
to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  upon  which  they  lingered  with  much 
ardour,  as  a  most  excellent  and  desirable  work,  while  yet  he  instinct- 
ively shrank  from  it,  as  one  for  which  he  feared  he  was  utterly  unfit. 
And  as  he  could  not  withdraw  his  mind  from  this  sphere  of  Chris- 
tian effort,  he  allowed  himself  to  contemplate  the  possibility  of  his 
labouring  for  the  spiritual  good  of  the  scattered  population  of  fron- 
tier settlements,  which  he  flattered  himself  he  might  do,  without 
being  specially  recognised  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  But  before 
he  had  reached  the  close  of  his  college  course,  his  mind  became  set- 
tled in  the  conviction  that  God  had  called  him  to  preach  the  gospel, 
and  to  this  work  he  solemnly  devoted  his  life. 

From  the  time  that  Mr.  Boardman  decided  to  become  a  preacher, 
he  longed  to  be  a  missionary  to  the  heathen.  Ever  after  his  conver- 
sion, this  was  a  subject  of  great  interest  to  him.  At  first,  his  mind 
was  directed  to  the  North  American  Indians.  Afterwards  he 
wavered  between  a  mission  to  the  west  and  one  to  the  east.  And 
so  decidedly  was  his  heart  set  upon  personal  missionary  work,  that 


222  GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN. 

Avlien  graduated  he  could  barely  be  persuaded,  b}^  tlie  earnest  soli- 
citations of  the  friends  of  the  college,  to  postpone  his  purpose,  and 
serve  them  one  year  as  tutor,  though,  to  induce  his  acceptance,  they 
pledged  him  a  professorship,  and  indeed  contemplated,  (probably 
without  intimating  it  to  him,)  his  ultimate  elevation  to  the  presi- 
dency of  the  college.  But  no  prospect  of  literary  preferment, 
however  honourable  to  him  as  a  scholar  and  a  Christian,  could  shake 
his  earnest  desire  and  purpose  of  being  actively  and  personally 
engaged  for  the  salvation  of  the  heathen.  After  he  had  accepted 
the  tutorship  for  a  year,  he  remarked,  "I  now  calculate  upon  a  year 
of  misery;"  and  he  wrote  subsequently,  "I  can  think  of  no  station 
of  ease,  or  emolument,  or  honour,  with  which  I  could  be  satisfied. 
There  is  not  a  situation,  either  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  in  America,  which 
presents  to  my  mind  any  temptation.  My  whole  soul  is  engrossed 
with  the  desire  to  be  preaching  to  the  heathen  the  unsearchable 
riches  of  Christ." 

As  has  been  before  intimated,  his  attention  was  first  directed  to 
the  Burman  mission  by  the  sad  intelligence  of  the  death  of  Rev. 
James  Colman,  which  reached  him  soon  after  he  entered  upon  his 
duties  as  tutor.  "I  knew,"  he  afterwards  wrote,  "that  Arracan  was 
a  most  inviting  field  for  missionary  labour,  and  Colman  seemed 
exactly  suited  to  occupy  the  place.  But,  alas!  he  is  very  suddenly 
cut  off  in  the  very  beginning  of  his  career.  Who  will  go  to  fill  his 
place?  I'll  go!  This  question  and  answer  occurred  to  me  in  suc- 
cession, as  suddenly  as  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  From  that  moment 
my  attention  became  principally  directed  to  the  Burman  mission, 
from  which  it  has  never  since  been  diverted. 

After  a  painful  and  patient  scrutiny  of  the  motives  which  influ- 
enced him  in  his  desires,  deliberate  consultation  with  judicious 
Christian  friends,  as  well  as  his  own  family  connections,  with  much 
prayer  for  divine  direction,  he  came  to  a  fixed  conclusion  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  become  a  missionary  to  the  East,  and  in  the  spring  of 
1823  offered  himself  to  the  Baptist  Board.  In  his  note  of  it  he 
remarks,  "In  my  offer  I  said  I  was  willing  to  be  sent  whithersoever 
the  Board  should  direct,  though  for  som^e  reasons  I  had  a  predilec- 
tion for  being  sent  to  China,  Palestine  or  Burmah.  The  Board 
accepted  my  offer,  and  in  a  few  days  gave  me  an  appointment  to 
Burmah.  There  may  I  live,  labour,  and  die!"  By  the  direction 
of  the  Board  he  left  Waterville  in  June,  1823,  and  entered  upon 
a  course  of  Theological   study   in   Andover   Seminary,  where   he 


GEORCxE    DANA    BOARDMAN.  223 

remained  till  about  tlie  time  of  his  ordination,  which  he  received  at 
North  Yarmouth,  Me.,  Feb.  16,  1825. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Boardman  had  decided  to  become  a  missionary, 
he  became  acquainted  with  Miss  Sarah  B.  Hall,  of  Salem,  Mass.,  a 
young  lady  agreeable  in  person  and  manners,  of  ardent  and  active 
piety,  of  superior  talents  and  literary  taste,  and  of  a  good  education, 
which  she  had  acquired  by  her  own  energy  and  perseverance,  agahist 
obstacles  which,  to  an  ordinary  spirit,  would  have  been  insurmount- 
able. Eefined,  gentle,  and  affectionate,  yet  of  a  strong,  energetic 
spirit,  she  seemed  to  possess  every  quality  desirable  in  the  wife  of  a 
devoted  missionary.  Her  heart  was  set  upon  missionary  life,  before 
she  knew  any  thing  of  him  to  whom  she  was  afterwards  united ; 
and  it  is  a  coincidence  worthy  of  notice,  that  her  first  aspirations 
were  to  labour  among  the  North  American  Indians,  and  that  after- 
wards the  tidings  of  Colman's  untimely  death  struck  a  trembling 
chord  in  her  breast ;  so  that  when  they  met,  she  was  prepared  to 
enter  at  once  into  his  views  and  share  his  labours.  Faithfully  and 
devotedly,  as  a  wife,  a  mother,  and  a  spiritual  guide  to  the  benighted 
of  her  own  sex  upon  heathen  ground,  she  filled  up  her  day  of 
patient  toil.  In  scenes  of  trial — of  personal  peril,  of  domestic 
affliction,  as  well  as  in  the  more  quiet  and  laborious  details  of  a 
missionary's  home  and  a  missionary  life,  she  proved  herself  a  noble 
and  beautiful  specimen  of  a  Christian  woman;  and  the  rock  of 
St.  Helena  will  be  enshrined  in  many  Christian  hearts,  as  the  spot 
where  rests  till  the  morning  of  the  resurrection,  the  mortal  form 
of  Boardman's  widow,  the  second  Mrs.  Judson.  A  fit  hand  has 
given  the  world  a  fit  memorial  of  this  most  estimable  and  lamented 
missionary. 

Mr.  Boardman  and  Miss  Hall  were  married  July  4,  1825,  and 
immediately  bidding  a  last  farewell  to  their  friends  in  New  Eng- 
land, they  set  out  for  Philadelphia,  whence,  on  the  16th  of  the  same 
month,  they  sailed  for  Calcutta.  On  the  2d  of  December  following 
they  landed,  after  a  pleasant,  but  somev.-hat  protracted  voyage. 
The  war  at  that  time  raging  between  the  English  and  Burmese 
governments,  had  broken  up  all  missionary  labour  in  Burmah. 
Messrs.  Hough  and  Wade,  with  their  wives,  after  a  narrow  escape 
from  expected  violent  death,  had  retired  from  Eangoon  to  Calcutta; 
while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Judson  were  enduring  horrors,  then  unimagincd 
by  their  friends,  and  now  scarcely  imaginable,  at  Ava.  Under  thes'- 
circumstances  they  had  no  alternative  but  to  remain,  for  the  presciit. 


224  GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN. 

ill  Bengal.  They  therefore  immediately  joined  Mr.  Wade's  family 
at  Chitpore,  a  village  near  Calcutta,  and  subsequently  took  up  their 
residence  in  town. 

Here  they  assiduously  devoted  themselves,  as  their  first  and  most 
necessary  employment,  to  the  attainment  of  the  Burrnan  language. 
They  had  the  assistance  of  their  associates,  who  had  made  some 
proficiency  in  it,  as  well  as  the  more  indispensable  aid  of  a  native 
teacher.  This,  however,  did  not  prevent  Mr.  Boardman's  making 
himself  otherwise  useful,  so  far  as  was  consistent  with  the  pursuit 
of  his  primary  object.  He  and  Mr.  Wade  alternately  supplied  the 
Circular  Road  Chapel  during  Mr.  Wade's  stay  in  Calcutta;  and 
after  his  departure  at  the  close  of  the  war,  Mr.  Boardman,  in  com- 
pliance with  a  pressing  request  from  that  church  and  the  Calcutta 
mission  generally,  and  with  the  concurrence  of  the  other  members 
of  the  Burman  mission,  remained  with  it  several  months  longer, 
until  some  plan  of  operations  should  be  so  far  matured  as  to  require 
his  presence  in  Burinah.  Their  stay  in  Calcutta  of  fifteen  months 
seems  to  have  been  pleasant  to  them,  and  perhaps  not  more  unprofit- 
able, in  its  bearings  upon  their  future  usefulness,  than  if  they  had 
at  once  proceeded  to  Burmah.  Mrs.  Boardman,  in  January,  1827, 
writes  to  a  friend:  "Since  I  bade  adieu  to  my  native  land,  the  events 
which  have  transpired  in  relation  to  me,  have  been  one  series  of 
mercies.  I  am  blessed  with  excellent  health,  a  most  affectionate 
husband,  a  lovely  daughter,  and  every  thing  in  my  outward  cir- 
cumstances to  make  me  happy.  I  can  indeed  say,  my  cup  runneth 
over.  But  when  I  think  of  my  spiritual  privileges,  I  am  still  more 
overwhelmed.  Among  these,  the  near  prospect  of  being  actually 
engaged  in  the  glorious  cause  of  missions  is  not  the  least."  Mr. 
Boardman  also  writes,  "We  are  extremely  happ}'-  in  our  new  place, 
and  in  each  other." 

In  April,  1827,  Mr.  Boardman  joined  the  station  at  Amherjst. 
They  found  the  mission  a  scene  of  sorrow.  Mrs.  Judson  had,  a  few 
months  before,  sunk  into  the  grave.  Mr.  Boardman's  first  work  in 
Amherst,  was  to  construct  a  coffin  for  little  Maria  Butterworth, 
whose  first  cradle  was  among  the  chains  of  the  Ava  prison,  and  lay 
her  by  her  mother's  side.  His  own  family  was  afflicted  with  severe 
illness;  Mrs.  Boardman  having  been  attacked,  within  two  daj'-s  after 
her  arrival,  by  the  disease  which  made  her  an  invalid  for  many 
years,  and  which  finally,  after  a  long  interval  of  health,  brought  her 
to  the  grave.     Their  little  daughter,  Sarah,  was  even  more  a  sufferer 


GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN.  225 

than  she.  Thus  in  sorrow,  Board  man  commenced  his  missionary 
career,  and  from  sorrow  he  was  never  for  any  long  period  exempt, 
during  its  continuance. 

The  growing  importance  of  Mauhnain,  the  new  seat  of  govern- 
ment, made  it  also  an  important  point  for  the  establisment  of  a 
missionary  station,  and  Mr.  Boardman  was  selected  hy  his  associates 
for  this  purpose.  In  the  latter  part  of  May  he  left  Amherst,  his 
wife  being  still  so  feeble  as  to  be  obliged  to  be  carried  in  a  litter  to 
the  boat  which  bore  them  to  their  new  home.  The  English  gov- 
ernor verj^  readily  presented  him  with  a  lot  of  land  sufficiently 
large  to  accommodate  the  mission,  upon  which  he  erected  a  small 
bamboo  cottage,  and  began  the  work  of  preaching  to  the  natives. 
The  hopes  which  he  had  so  ardently  cherished  for  years,  seemed 
now  about  to  be  realized.  He  writes  about  this  time:  "Although 
our  prospects  are  not  so  settled  as  we  could  wish,  yet  my  dear  com- 
panion and  myself  feel  more  than  we  have  ever  felt,  that  we  have 
reached  the  scene  of  our  future  labours.  After  nearly  two  years 
of  wanderings  without  any  certain  dwelling  place,  we  have  become 
inhabitants  of  a  little  spot  which  we  call  our  earthly  home.  Our 
happiness  increases  in  our  new  habitation."  Mrs.  Boardman  writes 
a  few  days  later:  "We  are  in  excellent  health,  and  as  happy  as  it 
is  possible  for  mortals  to  be.  It  is  our  earnest  desire  to  live,  and 
labour,  and  die,  among  this  people." 

Their  happiness  was  soon  after  interrupted  by  one  of  those  start- 
ling episodes  to  which  missionary  life,  in  a  semi-barbarous  or 
unsettled  country,  is  sometimes  incident.  Their  house  stood  about 
a  mile  from  the  English  cantonments,  in  a  beautiful,  but  lonely  spot, 
on  the  bank  of  the  Salwen,  directly  opposite  Martaban,  a  partially 
deserted  town  in  the  Burman  territory,  the  resort  of  nocturnal 
marauders  and  banditti  who  prowled  through  the  neighbouring  vil- 
lages, plundering  houses,  and  not  unfrequently  adding  murder  to 
robbery.  The  English  governor,  apprehensive  of  danger  in  so 
lonely  a  spot,  had  kindly  offered  them  a  site  for  a  house  within  the 
cantonments.  They,  however,  felt  it  their  duty  to  decline  the  offer, 
as  such  an  arrangement  would  have  cut  off  nearly  all  their  inter- 
course with  the  Burmans.  So,  by  no  means  unaware  of  the  dan- 
gers by  which  they  were  surrounded,  in  hope  of  more  successfully 
prosecuting  their  work,  they  ventured  to  live  alone,  in  a  house 
so  frail  in  its  construction  that,  (to  use  Mrs.  Boardman 's  words) 
"it  could  be  cut  open  any  where  with  a  pair  of  scissors,"  in  the 
15 


226  GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN. 

midst  of  a   desolate   wood,   and  at  some   distance   from   even   a 
Burman  neighbour. 

\The  governor's  apprehensions^  proved  but  too  well-founded. 
Within  a  month  of  their  arrival^  their  house  was  entered  at  night, 
and  plundered  of  every  thing  of  value  which  it  contained.  They 
awoke  in  the  morning,  and  found  every  trunk,  box  and  drawer, 
opened  and  rifled.  So  stealthily  had  the  marauders  effected  their 
purpose,  that  the  lone  and  unprotected  family  were  not  even  dis- 
turbed in  their  slumber.  Such  a  morning  scene,  taken  as  a  whole, 
was  well  adapted  to  awaken  the  consternation  which  they  felt;  but 
a  single  feature  in  it  chilled  them  with  horror,  two  large  cuts  through 
the  muslin  which  curtained  their  bed,  the  one  at  the  head,  the  other  . 
at  the  foot  of  the  place  where  Mr.  Boardman  slept!  Through  these 
had  murderous  eyes  peered  upon  them,  watching  while  the  rest  of 
the  party  secured  the  booty!  The  quietness  of  their  slumber  saved 
A  their  lives.  [  After  the  robbery  they  were  furnished  by  the  governor 

il  ^       with  a  guard  of  sepoys  for  a  time,  and  the  rapid  settlement  of  the 
vicinity  soon  rendered  their  situation  comparatively  secure. 

In  the  midst  of  these  perilous  circumstances,  other  things  of  a 
different  character  served  greatly  to  encourage  them.  The  prospects 
of  the  mission  were  brightening,  and  the  number  of  visitors  who, 
from  one  motive  or  another,  came  to  inquire  concerning  the  new 
religion,  increased  daily.  Mr.  Boardman  writes  in  his  journal  in 
August:  "I  have  been  employed  to-day  in  declaring  to  a  company 
of  Burmans  and  Talings,  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  They 
do  not  dispute,  but  inquire.  They  waited  and  conversed  to-day  till 
I  was  completely  exhausted,  and  could  say  no  more.  A  spirit  of 
inquiry  seems  to  have  been  excited  to  a  considerable  extent.  Many 
who  have  visited  us,  and  heard  the  word,  wish  to  come  again,  and 
obtain  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of  it."  A  school  for  boys,  and 
another  for  girls,  occupied  daily  a  portion  of  their  attention,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  regular  service  of  the  Sabbath  and  daily  conversation 
with  visitors. 

In  October  following,  it  was  decided  by  the  members  of  the  mis- 
sion to  abandon  Amherst,  and  concentrate  their  force  at  Maulmain. 
The  growing  importance  of  this  place  as  the  civil  and  commercial 
metropolis  of  British  Burmah,  unmistakably  marked  it  as  the  spot 
for  the  central  station ;  and  from  this  time  it  became  the  radiating 
point  of  all  the  Christianizing  influences  connected  with  the  Bur- 
man   mission.      Manj'  of  tlie  Christian  fimilies   accompanied    the 


GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN.  227 

missionaries  from  Amherst,  including  the  female  school  of  Mrs. 
Wade,  which  having  been  united  to  that  of  Mrs.  Boardman,  the 
combined  school  was  prosecuted  with  very  encouraging  success, 
under  the  charge  of  both  these  ladies.  In  connection  with  Messrs. 
Judson  and  Wade,  Mr.  Boardman  continued  to  prosecute  with 
increased  pleasure  and  encouragement,  the  labours  v/hich,  as  the 
pioneer  of  this  important  station,  he  had  commenced  alone. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  in  his  correspondence  and  journal 
about  this  time,  the  evidence  that  God  was  deepening  the  work  of 
grace  in  his  heart,  and  thus  preparing  him,  not  only  for  the  early- 
death  to  which  he  was  destined,  but  also  for  the  important  work 
which  was  to  occupy  the  remaining  years  of  his  life,  as  the  pioneer 
labourer  in  another  station,  and  in  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
successful  missions  of  modern  times.  In  his  journal  early  in  1828, 
he  thus  writes:- — "An  important  defect  in  any  Christian  character 
consists  in  hot  aiming  at  sufficiently  high  attainments  in  holiness. 
I  am  fully  convinced  that,  as  a  creature  of  God,  I  owe  him  my  all, 
every  thing  I  am,  or  can  be,  or  can  do;  and  when  I  also  consider 
that  I  am  a  redeemed  creature,  my  obligations  seem  increased  a  thou- 
sand fold.  And  yet  I  hesitate  to  live — rather  to  try  to  live — as  holy 
as  I  possibly  can  the  rest  of  my  days!  Why  do  I  not  press  for- 
ward, and  join  those  who  have  taken  the  highest  ground,  who  live 
so  near  the  throne,  and  are  comparatively  so  blameless  in  the  sight  of 
God?  Is  there  any  thing  in  my  outward  circumstances  to  prevent 
my  being  as  much  devoted  to  God  as  Edwards,  Brainerd,  Pciirce  or 
Baxter?  I  am  constrained  to  say  there  is  nothing.  I  ask  myself 
again,  am  I  not  under  as  solemn  obligation  as  these  men,  to  be  holy  ? 
Am  I  not  under  the  most  solemn  obligation  to  be  hol}^  as  God  is 
holy?  I  surely  am.  He  claims  from  me  all  that  I  can  give  him; 
my  heart,  and  soul,  and  mind,  and  might,  and  strengtli.  But  a 
great  difficulty  remains.  Who  can  successfully  contend  with  all  his 
spiritual  foes?  Who  can  of  himself  live  as  holy  as  God  requires? 
My  past  experience  teaches  me  that  I  have  not  the  strength  requisite 
for  the  desperate  undertaking.  I  fear  to  engage.  Is  there  a  helper 
at  hand?  One  on  whose  strength  I  can  lean,  and  be  supported? 
There  is,  there  is,  /  thank  God,  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  It 
is  written,  'My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee.'  'He  giveth  power  to 
the  faint,  and  to  them  that  have  no  might  he  increaseth  strength.'" 

Under  a  later  date  he  writes: — "This  evening  I  have  had  an 
impressive  sense  of  the  holiness  of  the  Divine  Being,  the  excellence 


228  GEORGE    DAKA    BOARDMAN. 

of  tlie  Scriptures,  and  the  purity  of  the  Blessed  Spirit.  I  have  felt 
an  unusually  sweet  sense  of  supreme  love  to  God,  as  the  holiest 
and  best  of  beings;  indeed,  as  the  only  source  of  true  holiness,  the 
infinite  fountain  of  excellence  and  goodness.  Every  thing  else  has 
appeared  in  its  comparative  insignificance.  I  wanted  to  be  with 
God,  to  be  like  him,  and  to  praise  him  for  ever.  Without  God  I 
could  have  no  home,  no  heaven,  no  happiness,  no  holiness,  no  rest.'' 

In  accordance  with  instructions  received  from  the  Board,  perfectly 
coinciding  with  the  views  of  the  missionaries  themselves,  it  was 
decided  by  the  members  of  the  mission  to  establish  a  new  station  at 
Tavoy,  the  chief  city  of  the  province  of  Tavoy,  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  down  the  coast  from  Maulmain.  Mr.  Boardman, 
whose  qualities  as  a  pioneer  had  been  put  to  the  test  at  Maulmain, 
was  selected  to  commence  the  establishment.  Several  circumstances 
combined  to  render  this  arrangement  in  a  degree  trying  to  his  feel- 
ings. He  had  himself  founded,  and  assiduously  laboured  to  improve 
the  station  at  Maulmain.  He  had  patiently  met  and  surmounted 
the  obstacles  attending  its  establishment.  He  had  encountered  the 
perils,  endured  the  privations,  and  suffered  the  losses  incident  to  its 
early  history,  and  with  much  satisfaction  had  beheld  it  rising  in 
comforts  and  increasing  facilities  for  the  successful  prosecution  of 
missionary  work.  He  had  here  seen  the  gospel-seed  begin  to  take 
root,  and  the  baptism  of  three  heathen  converts,  and  the  reception 
of  four  more  as  candidates  for  the  same  rite,  were  to  him  the  earnest 
of  larger  success  yet  to  come.  Besides,  if  he  removed  from  Maul- 
main, his  mind  had  been,  even  before  he  left  America,  directed  to 
Arracan,  the  scene  of  Colman's  untimely  death.  Still,  in  the  spirit 
with  which  at  the  first  he  devoted  himself  to  the  missionary  work, 
he  cheerfully  yielded  all  his  personal  preferences  and  cherished 
anticipations  to  the  opinion  of  his  brethren  in  the  mission. 

Mr.  Boardman,  with  his  little  family,  arrived  in  Tavoy  on  the  9th 
of  April,  1828.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  Siamese  youth  lately 
baptized,  four  boys  fi^om  his  school,  and  the  first  Karen  convert,  Ko 
Thah-byu,  then  a  candidate  for  baptism.  He  found  Tavoy  an  ancient 
city,  surrounded  by  a  brick  wall,  its  streets  intersecting  each  other 
at  right  angles,  and  containing  a  population  of  more  than  nine 
thousand.  It  presented  a  general  appearance  of  comfort,  and  even 
of  rural  beauty,  being  so  thickly  set  with  the  mango,  the  jack,  and 
the  magnificent  sacred  banyan,  as  to  resemble  a  grove  rather  than  a 
city.     But  it  was,  and  is,  a  stronghold  of  the  religion  of  Gaudama, 


GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN.  229 

abounding  with  temples,  shrines,  and  images,  scarcely  affording  a 
site  for  a  mission-house,  not  preoccupied  by  the  emblems  of  idolatry. 
Two  hundred  priests,  inhabiting  fifty  monasteries,  at  that  time 
guarded  the  shrines  of  Gaudama  from  desecration,  and  kept  the  pall 
of  ignorance  upon  the  minds  of  a  vast  multitude  of  deluded  vota- 
ries. A  hundred  temples,  bedizened  with  oriental  decorations,  are 
fdled  with  images  of  Gaudama  of  different  sizes,  many  of  them 
wrought  from  the  beautiful  alabaster,  some  of  one  piece  and  larger 
than  life,  and  others  of  other  materials  of  colossal  size.  More  than 
a  thousand  pagodas,  within  the  city  walls,  besides  a  large  number  in 
all  the  surrounding  country  which  tip  every  mountain  and  hill, 
surmounted  by  their  gilded  iron  umbrellas,  from  which  chimes  of 
little  bells  depend,  rung  by  the  slightest  breeze,  arrest  at  once  the 
eye  and  the  ear  of  the  devotee,  and  keep  the  objects  of  his  super- 
stition constantly  before  his  mind.  The  largest  of  these  structures 
is  fifty  feet  in  diameter  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high.  Around 
it  are  others  of  smaller  dimensions,  which,  with  the  central  one,  are 
all  gilt  from  the  summit  to  the  base.  Within  and  around  its  sacred 
enclosure  is  a  thickly-set  grove  of  banyan  and  other  sacred  trees, 
intersected  with  paved  foot-paths,  filled  with  large  bells  to  be  rung  by 
devotees,  together  with  thrones,  and  other  idolatrous  emblems,  which, 
with  the  branches  of  the  trees,  are  on  worship-days  loaded  with  fes- 
toons of  flowers,  the  simple  offerings  of  female  worshippers. 

Mr.  Boardman  was  kindly  received  and  hospitably  entertained  b}^ 
the  English  commissioner,  and  in  ten  days  after  his  arrival  he  had 
taken  a  house,  and  commenced  receiving  visits  from  the  inhabitants. 
Early  in  July  the  zayat  was  completed,  in  which  he  prosecuted  his 
labours  with  devoted  zeal,  and  in  full  faith  of  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  the  cross  even  in  that  idolatrous  city.  He  was  at  first  much 
encouraged  by  the  number  of  visitors  who  called  to  inquire  about 
the  new  religion,  among  whom  were  some  priests.  He  indeed  sus- 
pected that  the  complaisance  and  good-feeling  manifested  by  some 
of  the  yellow  cloth  with  whom  he  had  become  acquainted,  was  only 
apparent,  and  that  in  heart  they  were  meditating  how  they  might 
most  efficiently  array  their  influence  against  him.  He  soon  learned 
that  his  suspicions  were  well-founded.  They  used  their  utmost 
influence  to  keep  the  people  from  his  instructions,  and  not  witliout 
effect.  Nevertheless,  many  visited  him,  and  some  avowed  their 
adoption  of  Christianity,  of  whom  two  were  baptized  in  the  course 
of  the  summer. 


230  GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN. 

Soon  after  liis  arrival  he  had  baptized  Ko  Thah-byu,  who  nns 
been  mentioned  as  the  first  Karen  convert,  and  as  having  accompa- 
nied him  from  Mauhnain.  This  man  had  formerly  been  a  degraded 
slave,  and  owed  his  freedom  to  the  charity  of  the  missionaries;  and 
such  was  the  power  of  the  gospel  upon  his  own  heart,  and  the  unaf- 
fected zeal  with  which  he  afterwards  proclaimed  it  to  his  own  people, 
that  he  received  the  appellation  of  the  Karen  apostle.  His  conver- 
sion was  the  initial  step  of  missionary  efforts  among  the  race  to 
which  he  belonged,  the  successful  opening  of  which  constitutes  the 
most  distinguishing  feature  of  Mr.  Boardman's  missionary  life.  This 
remarkable  people  are  quite  distinct  in  race,  in  language,  in  habit.'^, 
in  intellectual  culture  and  in  religion,  from  the  Burmans,  by  whom 
they  are  regarded  as  an  inferior  race,  and  oppressed  and  enslaved. 
These  oppressions  have  driven  them  into  the  more  remote  and  inac- 
cessible parts  of  the  country,  where  they  lead  a  thriftless  and  wan- 
dering life.  Though  when  first  discovered,  they  were  in  a  degraded 
condition,  especially  addicted  to  intemperance,  there  was  apparent 
among  them  a  peculiar  susceptibility  to  Christian  influences.  This 
may  have  arisen  in  part  from  the  fiict  that  they  have  no  established 
priesthood  or  form  of  worshi]^,  while  still  they  have  a  notion  of  the 
being  of  God,  and  of  future  rewards  and  punishments, — and  in  part 
from  the  influence  of  traditions  and  prophetic  legends  long  current 
among  them,  pointing  to  a  future  emancipation  from  their  degrada- 
tion, connected  with  the  advent  of  white  teachers  from  beyond  sea. 
But  from  whatever  cause  it  may  have  arisen,  the  success  of  the  gospel 
among  them  is,  in  every  point  of  view,  remarkable,  if  not  unexam- 
pled in  any  modern  mission. 

The  efforts  of  Ko  Thah-byu  brought  many  of  his  people,  who 
resided  in  the  city  and  its  immediate  vicinity,  under  the  influence 
of  Mr.  Boardman's  instructions.  From  them  the  intelligence  soon 
spread  to  the  mountain  jungles,  that  a  white  teacher  had  come  from 
beyond  sea,  bringing  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God.  Parties  of 
Karens  frequently  came  in,  a  distance  of  several  days'  journey,  to 
see  and  hear  for  themselves.  Mr.  Boardman  found  them  far  more 
tractable,  and  impressible  by  religious  truth  than  the  Burmans.  lie 
describes  in  his  journal  an  interesting  illustration  of  this  trait  in 
their  character,  in  the  facts  relative  to  their  deified  book.  He  had 
learned  from  them  that,  about  twelve  years  before,  a  man  in  the 
habit  of  a  religious  ascetic  had  visited  one  of  their  villages,  informed 
them  that  there  was  one  living  and  true  God,  directed  them  to  prac- 


GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN.  231 

tice  certain  religious  ceremonies,  and  in  particular  to  worship  a  book 
which  he  left  with  them.  They  had  from  that  time  lield  the  book 
as  an  object  of  worship,  though  utterly  ignorant  of  its  contents  and 
of  the  language  in  which  it  was  written.  The  person  to  whose 
charge  it  was  delivered  became  a  kind  of  sorcerer,  wearing  a  fantas- 
tical dress,  and  flourishing  a  wooden  cudgel  for  a  wand.  At  Mr. 
Boardman's  suggestion,  the  sorcerer,  attended  by  a  numerous  train, 
visited  him,  bringing  with  him  the  mysterious  volume.  All  were 
anxious  to  know  his  opinion  of  it,  assured  that  they  should  gain 
correct  information  of  its  contents,  and  receive  proper  instruction 
as  to  their  duty  in  respect  to  it.  Upon  being  unfolded  from  its 
multitudinous  envelopes,  it  proved  to  be  a  copy  of  the  ^^Book  of 
Common  Prayer,  with  the  Psalms,^^  of  an  edition  printed  at  Oxford. 
"It  is  a  good  book,"  said  Mr.  Boardman;  "it  teaches  that  there  is 
a  God  in  heaven,  whom  alone  we  should  worship.  You  have  been 
ignorantly  worshipping  this  book;  that  is  not  good:  I  will  teach 
you  to  worship  the  God  whom  it  reveals."  Every  Karen  counte- 
nance was  alternately  lighted  up  with  smiles  of  joy  and  cast  down 
with  sadness ;  the  one,  that  they  had  learned  the  book  to  be  really  a 
good  one,  and  the  other  that  they  had  erred  in  worshipping  it  instead 
of  the  God  revealed  in  it.  With  their  consent,  Mr.  Boardman  retained 
it,  giving  them,  in  exchange,  a  copy  of  the  Psalms  in  Burmese.  The 
old  sorcerer,  perceiving  that  his  "occupation  was  gone, "  at  once  threw 
away  his  jogar  robe  and  his  cudgel,  and  became  a  hopeful  inquirer. 

From  this  time  a  large  share  of  Mr.  Boardman's  attention  was 
directed  to  the  Karens;  not,  however,  to  the  neglect  of  the  Burmans. 
In  almost  every  assembly  he  met,  Burmans  and  Karens  were  mingled 
together.  In  his  efforts  for  the  Burman  population,  he  attached 
special  importance  to  schools.  He  and  his  efficient  consort  had 
laboured  with  much  zeal  in  this  department  from  the  beginning  of 
their  missionary  life,  and  with  some  success.  The  school  for  girls, 
at  the  close  of  a  year  from  its  establishment,  contained  twenty-one 
scholars,  while  that  for  boys  had  a  larger  number,  of  whom  the  five 
oldest  had  given  good  evidence  of  conversion,  and  been  admitted  into 
the  church.  The  interest  which  he  felt  in  this  department  of  mission- 
ary effort,  is  shown  in  the  thoroughly  matured  plans  he  formed  for 
the  establishment  of  schools  throughout  the  city  and  the  neighbour- 
ing villages.  He  unfolded  them  at  length,  in  a  communication  to  the 
Board  at  home,  which  exhibits  a  rare  combination  of  liberal  views, 
a  warm  Christian  zeal,  and  a  sound  judgment. 


232  GEORGE  DAXA  BOARDMAN. 

At  the  earnest  solicitation  of  numerous  ])arties  of  Karens,  who 
had  visited  him  from  considerable  distances  in  tlie  interior,  Mr. 
Boardman  resolved  on  taking  a  tour  into  the  jungle,  and  visiting  as 
many  of  their  villages  as  was  practicable.  Accordingly,  on  the  oth 
of  February,  1829,  he  set  out,  accompanied  by  Ko  Thah-byu  and 
another  Karen  disciple,  two  of  the  largest  boys  in  the  school,  and 
a  Malabar  man  to  serve  as  cook ;  leaving  his  wife,  who  had  but  just 
recovered  from  an  illness  of  four  months'  duration,  with  her  two 
little  ones,  (the  younger  a  son  six  months  old)  and  the  boys'  board- 
ing-school. He  was  absent  ten  days,  in  which  time  he  travelled 
more  than  a  hundred  miles,  and  preached  seventeen  times.  His 
route  lay  through  a  wild,  rugged,  and  romantic  country,  over  hills 
and  mountains  crowned  with  pagodas,  across  deep  ravines  and  wild 
mountain  streams  almost  impassable,  through  dark  forests,  the  abode 
of  various  wild  beasts,  from  the  chattering  monkey  to  the  wily  and 
fierce  tiger; — a  route  nearly  trackless,  which  could  only  be  travelled. 
on  foot,  and  which  involved  great  fatigue  and  personal  exposure. 
Two  nights  they  were  without  shelter,  in  each  instance  through  a 
violent  drenching  rain;  and  at  best  they  were  happy  to  find  a 
Karen  hut  with  a  mat  for  a  bed  and  a  bamboo  for  a  pillow,  which, 
miserable  as  such  accommodations  were,  the  hospitable  inmates 
cheerfully  relinquished  for  them,  giving  them  the  best  cheer  their 
simple  modes  of  life  afforded.  They  first  directed  their  course  to 
the  village  of  the  sorcerer,  and  a  chief  who  had  visited  the  mission- 
house  at  Tavoy,  as  a  promising  inquirer.  The  villagers,  who  were 
expecting  them,  gave  them  a  joyful  welcome,  supplied  them  with 
fowls,  fish,  and  rice,  and  entertained  them  with  the  utmost  hospi- 
tality within  their  power. 

Here  Mr.  Boardman  found  a  zayat  erected  for  him,  of  sufficient 
size  to  contain  the  entire  population  of  the  village,  some  seventy 
souls.  In  the  evening  nearly  half  of  them  assembled,  to  whom  he 
preached  some  of  the  simplest  truths  of  the  gospel,  Ko  Thah-byu 
interpreting  for  the  benefit  of  such  as  did  not  understand  Burman ; 
and  some,  in  their  eagerness  to  learn,  spent  the  whole  night  in  the 
zayat.  The  next  day,  (Sabbath,)  he  preached  three  times  to  a  larger 
assembly.  At  the  close  of  the  day,  five  persons  requested  baptism. 
He,  however,  decided  to  defer  them  for  the  present.  On  his  return 
he  visited  several  other  villages  to  which  he  had  been  invited  b\' 
the  inhabitants,  who  treated  him  with  the  greatest  respect.  In  one 
of  them  two  persons  asked  for  baptism,  but  he  advised  them  to 


GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN.  233 

wait  a  while,  and  learn  more  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  cor- 
diality with  which  he  was  every  where  received,  the  unaffected 
kindness  of  the  villagers,  their  simple  and  hearty  hospitality,  and 
their  readiness  to  listen  to  Christian  instruction,  all  conspired  to  ren- 
der this  first  tour  into  the  Karen  wilderness  one  of  great  interest 
and  promise. 

While  his  hopes  were  thus  raised  in  respect  to  the  Karens,  he 
was  much  depressed  with  an  apparent  want  of  success  in  his  labours 
among  the  Burmans.  Here  he  had  to  encounter  the  haughty  indif- 
ference of  the  skeptical  and  conceited  Boodhist,  an  invincible  sacer- 
dotal opposition,  and  bitter  revilings.  What  was  still  more  trying, 
two  or  three  cases  of  apostacy  occurred  in  the  little  church.  Still, 
affectionately  desirous  of  them,  with  patience  and  hope,  this  inde- 
fatigable missionary  laboured  on.  Conversing  with  visitors,  super- 
intending the  school,  preaching  in  the  city,  itinerating  through  the 
neighbouring  villages,  he  sowed  beside  all  waters.  Nor  v^^as  it 
without  effect.  The  little  church  prospered,  and  received  frequent 
accessions  to  its  number,  notwithstanding  apparent  reverses. 

During  the  spring  and  summer  of  1829,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boardman 
were  visited  with  a  series  of  severe  personal  and  domestic  afflic- 
tions. In  the  previous  winter  he  had  experienced  an  alarming 
hemorrhage  from  the  lungs,  from  which,  however,  he  soon  in  a 
degree  recovered.  Still,  unequivocal  symptoms  of  the  fatal  disease 
which  so  early  terminated  his  valuable  life,  continued  to  show 
themselves.  Mrs.  Boardman  was  prostrated  with  severe  illness, 
and  her  constitution  had  become  so  much  impaired  that  she  was 
unable  to  rally  as  she  had  before.  Their  infant  son  was  also  in  a 
critical  state.  With  the  hope  that  a  short  respite  from  their  accus- 
tomed toil,  and  sea-air  and  bathing  would  prove  beneficial,  two  or 
three  weeks  in  May  were  spent  in  a  trip  to  Mergui.  Its  effect 
was  partially  such  as  they  desired. 

While  illness  and  exhaustion  were  preying  upon  the  parents  and 
the  youngest  born,  they  were  especially  delighted  with  the  apparently 
excellent  health  of  the  eldest  born,  a  very  intelligent  and  promising 
child  of  two  and  a  half  years.  "Sarah,"  wrote  the  mother,  "is  as 
plump  and  rosy-cheeked  as  we  could  wish.  0,  how  delighted  you 
would  be  to  see  her,  and  hear  her  prattle!"  Within  the  month  the 
father  wrote: — "Our  first  born,  our  dear  Sarah,  after  an  illness  of 
more  than  a  fortnight,  has  left  us  in  tears.  Our  anxieties  about  her 
are  now  over;  but,  0  how  affection  still  clings  to  her,  and  often  sets 


234  GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN. 

her  ruddy,  beauteous  form  before  our  eyes!  *  *  *  What  a  void  has 
her  loss  made  in  our  little  family  and  in  our  aching  hearts!  It 
grieves  me  to  think  that  I  was  so  sinful  as  to  need  such  a  stroke. 
George,  our  only  surviving  child,  is  very  ill,  and  we  scarcely  hope 
for  his  recovery.  Mrs.  Boardman's  health,  as  well  as  my  own,  is 
also  feeble.  However,  all  is  peace  within,  and  I  think  I  can  say, 
'Thy  will,  O  God,  be  done.'" 

Their  anxieties  in  regard  to  little  George  had  hardly  been  relieved 
by  a  partial  recovery,  when  another  event  occurred,  scarcely  less 
trying  to  themselves,  and  more  detrimental  to  the  interests  of  the 
mission.  On  the  ninth  of  August  they  were  aroused  from  their 
slumbers  at  an  early  hour,  by  a  furious  knocking  at  their  doors  and 
windows,  and  frantic  outcries  from  their  native  friends,  that  Tavoy 
had  risen  in  rebellion.  They  soon  ascertained  that  large  parties  of 
natives  in  arms  had  attacked  the  powder  magazine,  (fortunately 
without  success,)  the  house  of  a  principal  native  officer  in  the  town, 
and  the  prison ; — the  last  with  such  success  as  to  effect  a  release  of 
the  prisoners,  one  hundred  in  number.  The  utmost  alarm  pervaded 
the  city,  which  was  garrisoned  only  by  a  small  party  of  sepoys. 
To  add  to  the  general  terror.  Major  Burney,  the  civil  and  military 
commandant,  was  absent  at  Maulmain,  leaving  the  entire  charge 
upon  Mrs.  Burney,  then  in  a  delicate  state  of  health,  and  a  young 
physician.  The  mission  family  was  in  great  personal  danger,  their 
house  being  in  the  range  of  the  fire  of  the  belligerant  parties,  balls 
sometimes  passing  through  the  house.  As  soon  as  possible  they 
availed  themselves  of  Mrs.  Burney's  invitation  to  take  shelter  in  the 
government-house;  where,  however,  they  remained  but  a  short 
time,  as  it  was  deemed  best  to  evacuate  the  town,  leaving  it  in  pos- 
session of  the  rebels ;  for  though  the  handful  of  disciplined  sepo3's 
had  repulsed  them  at  all  points,  it  seemed  little  short  of  madness  to 
think  of  long  defending  themselves  in  the  midst  of  a  revolted  city. 
They  retired  therefore  to  a  wooden  building  on  the  wharf,  of  only 
six  rooms,  where  were  crowded  together  between  three  and  four 
hundred  persons,  of  different  ages,  sexes,  grades,  and  nations,  with 
arms,  ammunition,  provisions,  and  baggage,  and, — a  circumstance  not 
specially  agreeable  in  some  of  its  possible  connections, — six  hun- 
dred barrels  of  gunpowder. 

For  four  wearisome  and  sleepless  days  and  nights,  in  such  a  for- 
tress, this  devoted  party  sustained  the  constant  assaults  of  the 
tumultuous  hosts  of  insurgents,  raging  around  them  like  wild  waves 


GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN.  235 

of  the  sea.  At  length,  on  the  morning  of  the  fifth  day  of  the  siege, 
they  beheld  the  steamer  Diana  coming  up  the  river.  "  Our  hearts," 
says  Mr.  Boardman,  "bounded  in  gratitude  to  God."  Colonel  Bur- 
ney  was  soon  among  them.  Under  the  direction  of  a  brave  and 
experienced  ofiicer,  the  worn-out  sepoys  were  inspired  with  the  ardour 
of  fresh  troops,  and  the  entire  aspect  of  affairs  was  at  once  changed. 

The  first  care  of  the  commandant  was  to  place  the  two  European 
ladies  on  board  the  steamer,  in  whose  cabin  they  enjoyed  the  luxury 
of  quiet  rest  in  conscious  security  for  the  first  time  for  five  days  and 
nights.  They  were  taken  to  Maulmain,  whither  the  steamer  was 
forthwith  dispatched  for  reinforcements.  Colonel  Burney,  however, 
without  waiting  her  return,  immediately  commenced  throwing  up 
a  breastwork;  but  finding  the  firing  from  the  wall  a  constant  annoy- 
ance, he  resolved  to  scale  the  wall  and  dislodge  the  guns.  He  was 
so  successful  in  this  that  he  was  emboldened  to  make  another  attack 
upon  the  town,  which  resulted  in  the  entire  defeat  of  the  insurgents, 
and  the  capture  of  their  leaders,  four  of  whom  suffered  death  by  the 
summary  process  of  court-martial,  while  thirty  more,  among  a  much 
larger  number  that  crowded  the  prisons,  subsequently  shared  the 
same  fate,  as  the  award  of  a  more  deliberate  trial. 

When  quiet  was  restored,  Mr.  Boardman  went  into  the  city,  where 
he  found  the  ruinous  effects  of  the  recent  events  visible  on  every 
side.  The  mission-house  was  cut  to  pieces,  books  were  torn  up  and 
the  fragments  scattered  about,  and  the  furniture  was  carried  off  or 
broken  up.  He  spent  several  days  in  gathering  up  the  relics  and 
repairing  the  house;  and  then  taking  such  of  the  scholars  as  were 
desirous  of  going,  joined  Mrs.  Boardman  at  Maulmain.  But  those 
five  days'  confinement  in  that  crowded  building,  with  its  suffocating 
air,  wet,  dirty  floor,  and  damp  walls,  added  to  the  seeds  of  consump- 
tion already  sown  in  his  constitution.  And  Mrs.  Boardman,  in 
addition  to  the  other  fatigues  and  exposures  of  that  trying  time, 
watched  her  invalid,  little  George,  night  and  day,  with  a  care  which 
reacted  upon  herself  They,  however,  in  a  few  weeks  returned  to 
Tavoy,  and  reestablished  themselves  at  their  familiar  post  of  labour. 

He  was  now  much  encouraged  to  find  an  increasing  number  of 
inquirers,  and  larger  congregations  than  ever  attending  worship  with 
an  increasing  solemnity.  The  school  also* immediately  became  larger 
than  ever  before.  A  numerous  company  of  Karens  from  the  jungle 
came  in  to  present  the  mission  family  their  congratulations  on  their 
safe  return.     They  had  all  heard  of  their  critical  situation  at  the 


236  GEORGE  DAXA  BOAEDMAN. 

time  of  the  revolt,  and  felt  much  anxiety  for  their  safety.  Three 
of  them  came  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  baptism,  which,  as  they 
had  several  months  before  requested  it,  and  gave  good  evidence  of 
conversion,  it  was  not  thought  necessary  longer  to  postpone ;  they 
were  baptized  and  admitted  to  the  communion,  which  was  observed 
with  much  spiritual  preparation  and  solemnity. 

He  now  entered  upon  a  more  systematic  course  of  itinerary  labour 
among  the  villages  around  Tavoy.  Accompanied  usually  by  some 
native  Christian,  and  two  or  three  boys  of  the  school,  he  visited  three 
or  four  villages  a-week,  teaching  from  house  to  house,  and  convers- 
ing with  such  as  he  met  by  the  way  or  in  the  fields,  spending  some- 
times four  or  five  days.  Sometimes  he  visited  the  villages  on  the 
margin  of  the  river  by  means  of  a  boat,  but  oftener  he  could  better 
accomplish  his  object  by  the  more  laborious  method  of  journeying 
on  foot.  On  his  return  he  was  frequently  cheered  by  finding  a 
company  of  Karens  from  the  jungle,  all  eager  to  listen  to  Christian 
instruction,  and  some  desirous  of  receiving  baptism;  of  whom  some 
were  admitted,  and  others,  with  his  characteristic  prudence,  advised 
to  wait  for  a  time.  And  as  far  as  possible  to  supply  the  call  for 
Christian  instruction  among  their  distant  villages,  Ko  Thah-byu, 
with  one  or  two  others,  were  frequently  commissioned  by  him  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  their  countrymen,  which  they  did,  with  much 
acceptance  and  success. 

And  thus  passed  the  first  two  years  of  his  missionary  life  at 
Tavoy.  His  labours  had  been  much  interrupted  during  this  entire 
period,  by  sickness  and  death  in  his  family,  by  the  native  insurrec- 
tion, and  by  the  repeated  recurrence  of  hemorrhage  of  the  lungs 
and  other  symptoms  of  consumption.  Notwithstanding,  he  had 
performed  a  great  amount  of  missionary  labour.  He  had  gathered 
a  native  church  of  twenty  members;  he  had  carefully  instructed 
many  more  in  the  principles  of  Christianity,  who  gave  more  or  less 
evidence  of  conversion ;  he  had  seen  more  than  one  village  of  Karens 
abandoning  their  heathen  practices  and  observing  Christian  institu- 
tions: and  he  had  sowed  much  seed,  in  the  city,  in  the  villages,  and 
through  the  wild  jungle,  a  limited  harvest  of  which  he  was  yet  to 
gather,  but  the  greater  part  remained  to  be  garnered  by  succeeding 
missionaries. 

In  the  winter  of  1829-30  Mrs.  Boardman  was  brought  low  by  a 
most  alarming  illness.  For  weeks  her  husband  suspended  all  mis- 
sionary labour,  and  watched  over  her  with  scarcely  a  hope  of  her 


GEORGE  DANA  BOARDMAN.  237 

recovery.  After  tlie  crisis  of  her  disease,  she  was  removed  a  few 
miles  from  town  to  a  bungalow  by  the  sea-side,  for  the  benefit  of 
the  sea  air,  where  the}^  remained  a  few  weeks.  She  was  partially 
restored,  but  was  still  an  invalid;  and  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Maul- 
main  missionaries  was  removed  thither  for  a  time.  Mr.  Boardman, 
who  had  suffered  from  an  incessant  cough  ever  since  the  revolt,  and 
was  much  enfeebled,  joined  her  early  in  May.  He  made  arrange- 
ments with  the  Karens  that  if  he  should  be  able  to  visit  Tavoy  after 
the  rains,  he  would  meet  them  at  the  great  pass  of  the  mountains, 
where  they  proposed  to  build  a  zayat,  and  assemble  from  all  quar- 
ters. Still  they  bade  him  farewell  with  much  sorrow,  and  many 
fears  that  they  should  never  see  him  more. 

Enfeebled  as  he  was,  he  could  not  rest.  While  at  Maulmain,  he 
preached  on  the  Sabbath  twice  in  English  and  once  in  Burman,  and 
once  again  during  the  week  in  Burman  or  English;  he  attended 
catechetical  exercises  every  other  evening  in  the  week;  he  was  every 
day  occupied  in  correcting  proof  for  the  press,  in  religious  conversa- 
tion, or  in  the  necessary  oversight  of  the  several  interests  and  labours 
of  the  mission,  Messrs.  Judson  and  Wade  being  then  absent  from 
the  station.  Mrs.  Boardman,  in  Maulmain  as  in  Tavoy,  was  con- 
stantly employed  in  teaching  in  the  schools,  or  in  conversing  with 
inquirers  of  her  sex  who  visited  the  mission-house.  She  gradually 
regained  her  accustomed  strength,  of  which  she  was  soon  to  stand 
in  the  utmost  need.  Her  youngest  born,  an  infant  son  of  eight 
months,  was  snatched  from  her  embrace  by  death  at  Maulmain. 
But  a  darker  cloud  hung  over  her.  To  her  tenderest  earthly  friend 
no  change  could  bring  any  relief  His  cough  was  more  hollow,  and 
increasing  in  severity,  and  his  thin  countenance  grew  more  pale. 
Death  had  marked  him  as  his  own. 

Still  he  had  no  heart  to  rest.  After  seven  months'  residence  in 
Maulmain,  they  returned  to  Tavoy,  with  their  only  surviving  son, 
and  their  scholars  who  had  accompanied  them,  and  resumed  their 
accustomed  and  loved  toil.  They  were  also  accompanied  by  several 
of  the  native  Christians,  among  them  the  ordained  native  preacher 
of  Eangoon,  Moung  Ing,  and  the  devoted  and  indefatigable  Ko 
Thah-byu,  who,  in  Mr.  Boardman's  daily  declining  health,  proved  a 
valuable  aid  to  him.  As  soon  as  the  tidings  of  their  return  reached 
the  jungle,  many  of  their  former  visitors  came  in  with  expressions 
of  joy  and  loaded  with  presents.  The  children  came  back  to  the 
schools,  and  every  circumstance,  apart  from  the  health  of  the  mis- 


238  GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN. 

sionary,  appeared  most  encouraging.  Of  the  Karens  wlio  first  came, 
five  requested  baptism,  but  were  deferred  till  the  arrival  of  a  larger 
number,  wliich  soon  came, — a  company  of  forty,  including  all  the 
disciples  they  had  not  before  seen.  Eighteen  were  accepted  and 
baptized  by  Moung  Ing,  Mr.  Boardman  being  unable  to  administer 
the  ordinance.  One  of  the  scholars  in  the  boj^s'  school  was  bap- 
tized at  the  same  time,  the  son  of  a  Mussulman,  the  chief  native 
officer  of  Tavoy.  At  the  close  of  the  day  Mr.  Boardman  adminis- 
tered the  communion  to  thirty-seven  members,  mingling  his  gratitude 
with  theirs  for  the  auspicious  event  which  had  nearly  doubled  their 
number  in  a  single  day. 

The  following  touching  description  of  this  scene  is  from  a  letter  of 
Mrs.  Boardman:  "The  first  three  days  were  spent  in  examining  can- 
didates for  baptism,  and  instructing  those  who  had  been  previously 
baptized.  Sometimes  Mr.  Boardman  sat  up  in  a  chair,  and  addressed 
them  a  few  moments;  but  oftener  I  sat  on  his  sick  couch,  and  inter- 
preted his  feeble  whispers.  He  was  nearly  overcome  by  the  glad- 
dening prospect,  and  frequently  wept.  But  the  most  touchingly 
interesting  time  was  the  day  before  they  left  us,  when  nineteen  were 
baptized.  Grief  and  joy  alternately  took  possession  of  my  breast. 
To  see  so  many  in  this  dark  heathen  land  putting  on  Christ,  could 
but  fill  me  with  joy  and  gratitude;  but  when  I  looked  upon  my 
beloved  husband,  lying  pale  upon  his  couch,  and  recollected  the  last 
time  we  had  stood  by  those  waters,  m}^  heart  could  but  be  sad  at  the 
contrast.  But  in  the  evening,  when  we  came  together  to  receive 
from  him  the  emblems  of  our  Saviour's  sufferings,  my  feelings 
changed.  A  breathless  silence  pervaded  the  room,  excepting  the 
sound  of  his  voice,  which  was  so  low  and  feeble  that  it  seemed  to 
carry  the  assurance  that  we  should  feast  no  more  together  till  we 
met  in  our  Father's  kingdom." 

It  was  but  too  evident  that  the  end  of  his  labours  was  near.  The 
anxious  Karens,  fearing  that  he  might  not  be  able  to  fulfil  the  prom- 
ise made  them  before  he  went  to  Maulmain,  to  visit  them,  if  possible, 
after  the  next  rains,  had  built  a  zajcit  in  the  wilderness  on  the  hither 
slope  of  the  mountains,  and  offered  to  come  and  carry  him  out  in  a 
litter.  He  had  just  decided  to  yield  to  these  importunities,  when 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mason  arrived  at  Tavoy  as  auxiliaries  to  the  mission. 
No  time  was  to  be  lost;  and  on  the  thirty-first  of  January,  the  part}' 
set  out,  Mr.  Boardman  borne  in  a  cot  upon  the  shoulders  of  the 
Karens,  Mrs.  Boardman  and  the  newly  arrived  missionaries  acconi- 


GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN.  2'u) 

panying.  At  the  end  of  three  days  tliey  readied  tlie  zayat,  wliicli 
stood  on  the  margin  of  a  beautiful  stream,  at  the  foot  of  a  range  of 
mountains.  It  was  but  a  rude  open  structure,  a  comfortless  place 
for  a  dying  man,  leaving  him  exposed  to  the  burning  sun  by  day, 
and  the  cold,  damp  fogs  by  night.  But  his  mind  was  happy,  and 
he  would  often  say,  "If  I  live  to  see  this  one  ingathering,  I  may 
well  exclaim  with  happy  Simeon,  Lord  now  lettest  thou  thy  servant 
depart  in  peace." 

But  death  was  rapidly  hastening  on.  "On  Wednesday," — we 
quote  from  Mrs.  Boardman, — "while  looking  in  the  glass,  he  said, 
'I  have  altered  greatly ;  I  am  sinking  into  the  grave  very  fast — just 
on  the  verge!'  After  a  few  moments  deliberation  it  was  concluded 
to  defer  the  baptism  of  the  male  applicants,  and  set  out  for  home 
early  next  morning.  Nearly  all  the  female  candidates  had  been 
examined,  and  as  it  was  difficult  for  them  to  come  to  town,  it  was 
thought  best  that  Mr.  Mason  should  baptize  them  at  evening."  At 
the  close  of  the  day,  just  as  the  sun  was  sinking  behind  the  moun- 
tains, his  cot  was  placed  at  the  river  side,  in  the  midst  of  the  solemn 
company  that  was  gathered  to  witness  the  first  Christian  baptism 
ever  performed  in  that  ancient  mountain  stream.  Thirty-four  con- 
verts, whose  examination  had  been  approved,  were  baptized  by  Mr. 
Mason ;  leaving  twenty-six,  who  were  examined  and  baptized  a  few 
weeks  later.  Mr.  Boardman  gazed  upon  the  scene  with  a  joy  almost 
too  great  for  his  feeble  frame  to  endure.  After  the  evening  meal, 
still  reclining  upon  his  couch,  he  whispered  to  the  disciples,  who 
were  gathered  around  him,  a  few  words  of  parting  counsel,  and 
bade  them  a  last  farewell.  Early  the  next  morning  they  left  for 
home,  proceeding  with  as  much  expedition  as  possible,  hoping  that 
he  might  survive  the  journey,  and  die  under  his  own  roof  But  the 
hope  was  disappointed.  On  the  following  day,  a  little  past  noon, 
he  closed  his  eyes  upon  earth,  and  departed  to  his  everlasting  rest. 

The  death  of  Boardman  deserves  to  be  ranked  among  the  few 
instances  of  exalted  heroism  in  the  last  moments  of  life,  recorded  in 
the  annals  of  mankind.  Wolfe  upon  the  heights  of  Abraham,  the 
elder  Pitt  in  the  parliament-house,  the  younger  Adams  in  the  capi- 
tol,  have  often  been  cited  as  examples  in  their  death  of  true  moral 
sublimity.  But  while  we  may  well  gaze  with  admiration  upon  these 
death-scenes,  the  death  of  Boardman  in  the  jungle  is  adapted  to 
awaken  an  admiration  as  much  higher,  as  the  purpose  for  which  he 
lived  and  died  is  nobler  and  purer  than  that  of  the  warrior,  or  even 


2-iO  GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN". 

the  statesman.  As  an  instance  of  sublime  devotion  to  an  all-absorb- 
ing purpose,  this  is  not  inferior  to  those;  while  as  to  the  purpose 
itself,  nothing  can  exceed  it  in  elevation  and  in  purity.  Said  Dr. 
Judson,  "He  fell  gloriously  in  the  arms  of  victory, — thirty-eight 
wild  Karens  having  been  brought  into  the  camp  of  King  Jesus,  in 
little  more  than  a  month,  besides  the  thirty-two  who  were  brought 
in  during  the  two  preceding  years.  Disabled  by  wounds,  he  was 
obliged  through  the  whole  of  his  last  expedition  to  be  carried  on  a 
litter;  but  his  presence  was  a  host,  and  the  Holy  Spirit  accompanied 
his  dying  whispers  with  almighty  influence.  Such  a  death,  next  to 
that  of  martj'rdom,  must  be  glorious  in  the  eyes  of  Heaven.  Well 
may  we  rest  assured  that  a  triumphal  crown  awaits  him  in  the  great 
day,  and  'Well  done,  good  and  faithful  Boardman,  enter  thou  into 
the  joy  of  thy  Lord.'" 

The  career  of  Boardman  was  a  brief  one.  He  died  at  the  early 
age  of  thirty.  But  it  was  preeminently  an  active  one.  From  the 
day  of  his  conversion  to  the  close  of  his  life,  activity  for  Christ,  and 
for  souls,  was  the  distinguishing  trait  of  his  character.  Work,  toil, 
constant  and  unremitted,  bore  him  on,  on,  not  merely  to  the  verge 
of  the  grave — for  there  he  seemed  to  be,  months  before  his  labours 
closed — but  full  up  to  the  very  barrier  of  time,  the  threshold  of 
eternity.  Ever  an  invalid,  he  gave  himself  no  time  to  be  sick — no 
time  to  die;  though  he  was  always  ready  to  obey  the  summons, 
when  it  should  come. 

And  yet  he  was  patient,  quiet,  modest,  humble,  and  self-distrust- 
ful. He  had  none  of  the  spirit  of  him  who  said  to  Jonadab  the  son 
of  Eechab,  Come  see  my  zeal  for  the  Lord.  Singularly  spiritual  in 
his  constitution,  he  possessed  a  refined  and  highly  sensitive  nature. 
His  personal  and  domestic  afflictions  were  sore  trials  to  his  spirit. 
He  felt  keenly  every  discouraging  circumstance  connected  Avith  his 
missionary  work,  and  severely  chid  himself,  lest  he  were,  in  some 
way  unconscious  to  himself,  the  cause  of  them ;  though  few  mission- 
aries or  ministers  any  where,  were  ever  more  successful  than  he  was, 
for  the  short  period  of  his  missionary  life. 

What  intellectual  greatness  he  might  have  achieved  in  a  different 
sphere,  had  time  and  opportunity  been  given  him,  we  know  not. 
/^Those  who  knew  him  best  in  his  youth,  felt  that  he  had  within  him 
intellectual  and  moral  elements  that  would  have  borne  him  to  a  high 
and  honourable  distinction  in  his  own  land,  had  he  directed  his 
energies  to  the  attainment  of  such  an  end.     They  had  indeed  already 


GEOBGE    DANA    BOARDMA.N.  241 

marked  out  sucli  a  career  for  him,  and  pressed  him  to  enter  upon  it 
before  they  knew  whither  the  warm  desires  of  his  soul  were  urging 
him.  But  the  great  Master  had  determined  a  different  course  for 
him,  and  to  Him  he  had  given  himself.  Faithfully  he  fulfilled  that 
course,  and  finished  it  with  joy.  He  has  left  behind  him  a  name 
fragrant  as  ointment  poured  out;  a  rich  legacy  to  the  youthful 
Christian,  a  bright  example  of  consecration  to  the  honour  of  Christ 
and  the  salvation  of  men.      '^w.—  x     (/-A  u.   <r1   '%0  y' 


ROBERT    MORRISOI^. 


Egbert  Morrison,  the  first  Protestant  missionary  to  Cbma,  was 
born  at  Morpeth,  in  the  county  of  Northumberland,  England,  Jan- 
uary 5,  1782.  His  parents  removed  in  1785  to  Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 
where  his  early  life  was  spent.  His  father  was  a  last  and  boot-tree 
maker,  of  an  honourable  Christian  character,  for  many  years  an  elder 
of  a  Scotch  church  in  Newcastle,  and  brought  up  his  family  with  great 
strictness  and  fidelity.  Robert  received  his  early  elementary  instruc- 
tion from  a  maternal  uncle,  a  schoolmaster  at  Newcastle,  and  though 
his  progress  was  not  rapid,  he  showed  an  unusual  delight  in  study. 
He  was  remarkable  for  the  retentiveness  of  his  memory,  in  proof 
of  which  it  is  related,  that  in  his  thirteenth  year  he  repeated  one 
evening  the  whole  of  the  one  hundred  and  nineteenth  psalm  in  the 
Scotch  version.  At  an  early  age  he  was  set  to  learning  his  father's 
occupation,  in  which  he  showed  commendable  diligence. 

His  religious  advantages  were  unusually  good.  Besides  the  careful 
training,  and  pure  example  of  his  parents,  he  enjoyed  the  instructions 
of  a  faithful  minister.  Rev.  John  Hutton,  to  whose  catechetical 
exercises  he  afterwards  recurred  with  lively  and  grateful  interest. 
But  his  youthful  conduct  was  marked  by  some  irregularities.  He 
became,  as  he  says,  "somewhat  loose  and  profane,"  and  was  once 
intoxicated;  though  the  affectionate  obedience  he  ever  yielded  to 
his  parents,  and  his  perfect  ingenuousness  of  character,  proved  that 
their  care  of  his  moral  development  had  not  been  in  vain.  Indeed, 
it  Avas  the  revulsion  of  his  own  mind  at  the  consciousness  of  wrong 
doing,  more  than  anything  else,  that  led  him  at  the  age  of  sixteen 
to  repentance.  The  instructions  of  his  childhood  thronged  into 
memory  and  pierced  his  conscience,  and  he  was  led  directly  to  a 
change  of  life,  which  corroborated  to  others  the  testimony  of  his  own 
consciousness,  that  he  had  met  with  a  radical  change  of  heart.  This 
was  accompanied  by  no  very  striking  circumstances  without  or 
within.  He  had  an  intelligent  perception  of  "the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus,"  and  gave  it  a  cordial  reception.     He  became  a  member  of  the 


2L4:  EGBERT    MORRISON. 

churcli  under  Mr.  Hutton's  charge,  and  honoured  his  profession  hy 
an  humble,  self-denying  and  active  piety. 

It  has  been  often  remarked  that  religion,  at  the  same  time  that  it 
quickens  and  purifies  the  affections,  has  a  direct  tendency  to  expand 
the  mind.  No  man  can  become  a  true  Christian  without  mach 
thought  and  self-knowledge,  while  the  high  themes  it  offers  to  con- 
templation task  the  intellect  and  give  it  strength.  So  it  was  with 
Morrison.  The  acquisition  of  useful  knowledge  became  a  leading 
object.  His  means  of  gratifying  this  desire  were  scanty,  but  he 
made  the  most  of  them.  He  studied  early  and  late,  and  to  facilitate 
his  investigations  and  economize  time,  he  immediately  learned  a 
system  of  short-hand  writing.  Arithmetic,  astronomy,  botany,  and 
the  evidences  of 'Christianity,  are  enumerated  as  successively  engaging 
his  attention.  Biography  and  ecclesiastical  history  also  interested 
him,  but  devotional  works  chiefly  engaged  his  mind,  and  above  all 
the  Bible,  which  he  studied  daily  and  nightly.  His  physical  consti- 
tution was  not  strong;  he  complained  of  frequent  head-aches,  which 
indeed  affected  him  through  life ,  and  his  manual  labour  occupied 
him  from  twelve  to  fourteen  hours  a-day;  but  his  eager  spirit  was 
not  to  be  diverted  from  the  delights  of  knowledge  by  the  self- 
denial  it  cost.  At  the  same  time  he  was  much  in  Christian  society, 
and  found  leisure  to  do  good,  by  visiting  the  poor  and  instructing 
the  ignorant. 

At  first  he  does  not  seem  to  have  conceived  the  design  of 
changing  his  pursuit  in  life,  but  in  the  summer  of  1801,  he  began 
the  study  of  Latin  with  the  view  to  prepare  for  the  Christian  min- 
istry, and,  as  was  afterwards  disclosed,  with  a  partiality  for  a 
missionary  life.  But  of  this  last,  his  prospects  were  naturally  indefi- 
nite. The  expense  of  his  tuition  was  saved  out  of  his  earnings, 
and  he  was  obliged  to  redeem  time  from  sleep  to  carry  on  his 
studies.  He  made  rapid  proficiency,  for,  when  eighteen  months 
after  he  was  entered  at  Hoxton  Academy,  he  had  mastered  the 
rudiments  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew.  His  preceptor,  Eev.  W. 
Laidler,  appreciated  his  character,  and  encouraged  his  desire  of  the 
ministry,  a  desire  which  was  not  entertained  without  the  most  serious 
scrutiny  into  his  motives  and  fitness  for  the  work,  as  his  journals 
abundantly  testify.  An  intimation  of  his  desire  for  the  missionary 
work  startled  his  mother,  who,  though  a  woman. of  unquestionable 
piety,  shrunk  from  parting  with  her  favourite  son,  while  her  grow- 
ing infirmities  made  a  strong  appeal  to  his  filial  piety.     He  promised 


EGBERT    MORRISON".  245 

tliat  lie  would  not  leave  the  country  during  her  life.     This  pledge, 
however,  was  unexpectedly  terminated  by  her  death,  in  1802. 

He  commenced  his  studies  at  Hoxton  Academy,  since  known  as 
Highbury  College,  near  London,  in  January,  1803.  He  was  scarcely 
settled  there  when  he  received  a  pressing  invitation  to  return 
home,  on  account  of  the  feeble  state  of  his  father's  health,  which 
made  it  impossible  for  him  to  give  adequate  attention  to  his  busi- 
ness. But  his  purpose  was  fixed,  and  he  affectionately,  but  firmly, 
declined.  His  friends  were  at  first  dissatisfied  with  what  they 
deemed  his  neglect  of  them,  but  ultimately  acknowledged  that  his 
course  was  clear  and  his  decision  right.  His  affections  were  warm, 
and  during  his  academic  course  he  continually  evinced  by  his  cor- 
respondence, an  ardent  interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  friends,  particu- 
larly in  their  spiritual  prosperity. 

His  course  at  Hoxton  showed,  not,  indeed,  remarkable  talents, 
but  great  powers  of  application  and  an  unusual  degree  of  perse- 
verance. Always  diligent  and  striving  to  excel  in  his  studies,  he 
was  at  the  same  time  unremitting  in  his  religious  duties,  ever  mind- 
ful of  his  sacred  calling,  and  cultivating  those  affections,  without 
the  exercise  of  which,  the  work  of  the  ministry  becomes  a  task 
rather  than  a  delight.  He  was  a  member  of  the  church  under  the 
charge  of  Dr.  Waugh,  under  whose  ministry  he  sat  when  not  other- 
wise engaged,  but  he  preached  frequently  in  the  neighbouring 
villages  for  the  Itinerant  Society.  His  preference  for  missionary 
service  increased,  and  at  length  ripened  into  a  decision.  His  father 
and  friends  gave  their  assent  with  much  reluctance.  The  tutors 
and  treasurer  of  the  academy  did  not  make  positive  objections,  but 
represented  to  him  the  difficulties  of  the  foreign  service,  and  the 
opportunities  of  extensive  usefulness  at  home,  and  advised  him  to 
act  with  care  and  deliberation.  Among  other  inducements  to 
remain,  he  was  offered  the  advantages  of  a  course  in  one  of  the 
Scottish  universities.  But  on  deliberation  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty 
to  go  abroad,  and  in  May,  1804,  he  offered  himself  to  the  Directors 
(jf  the  London  Missionary  Society  as  a  candidate  for  their  service. 
The  missionary  committee  examined  him,  and  were  so  well  satisfied 
that  a  second  examination,  contrary  to  custom,  was  dispensed  with. 
He  was  accepted  by  the  Directors,  and  sent  immediately  to  the  mis- 
sionary academy  at  Gosport,  under  the  care  of  Rev.  Dr.  Bogue, 
where  he  prosecuted  his  studies  till  August,  1805. 

Mr.  Morrison's  temper  had  little  apparent  enthusiasm.     He  was 


246  KOBEKT    MORKISON. 

calm  and  resolute,  but  underneatli  all  there  lay  a  deep  earnestness. 
While  at  Gosport  he  meditated  his  enterprise,  and  laid  himself  out 
for  hard  labour.  Mungo  Park's  project  for  penetrating  the  interior 
of  Africa,  and  making  an  English  settlement  at  Timbuctoo,  sug- 
gested to  his  mind  the  thought  of  accompanying  him.  But  he  fixed 
his  eye  more  steadily  on  China.  He  used  to  express  the  desire 
"that  God  would  station  him  in  that  part  of  the  missionary  field 
where  the  difficulties  were  the  greatest."  He  had  his  desire.  The 
Directors  of  the  Missionary  Society  decided  to  send  him  to  China. 
Efforts  were  made  to  obtain  one  or  two  suitable  colleagues,  but 
without  success. 

The  attitude  of  seclusion  maintained  by  the  Chinese  empire  made 
it  impracticable  to  think  of  preaching  to  the  people  in  the  custom- 
ary manner.  The  directors  contemplated  only  a  preparatory  work, 
the  acquisition  of  the  language  and  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures, 
leaving  further  operations  to  the  developments  of  Providence.  For 
this  work  Mr.  Morrison  was  fitted  by  his  power  of  steady  and  unre- 
mitting industry,  and  he  set  about  his  preparation. 

On  leaving  Gosport,  he  resided  in  London  for  the  purpose  of 
studying  astronomy  and  medicine.  He  also  pursued  the  study  of 
the  Chinese  language  by  the  aid  of  Yong-Sam-Tak,  a  native  of 
some  education  residing  in  England;  and  transcribed  a  Chinese  and 
Latin  dictionary,  and  a  Chinese  manuscript  containing  a  Harmony  of 
the  Gospels,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  all  the  Pauline  Epistles 
except  that  to  the  Hebrews.  These  works  were  in  the  British 
Museum,  and  their  authors  were  unknown.  He  found  them  valu- 
able in  his  subsequent  labours,  but  his  study  of  the  language  proved 
of  little  practical  utility.  He  found  and  embraced  many  opportuni- 
ties for  preaching  and  doing  good  in  other  ways  during  his  residence 
in  the  metropolis,  which  continued  to  the  close  of  the  year  1806. 
After  visiting  Newcastle,  and  taking  leave  of  his  friends,  he  made 
immediate  arrangements  for  his  departure.  He  had,  some  years 
before,  made  a  matrimonial  engagement,  but  the  lady  declined 
accompanying  him  to  foreign  lands,  and  he  set  out  alone. 

It  was  the  intention  of  the  directors  that  he  should  sail  for 
Madras,  and  thence  to  Canton,  to  ascertain  whether  a  residence 
there  was  practicable,  but  the  hostility  of  the  East  India  Company 
to  all  missionary  enterprises  defeated  the  plan,  and  he  accordingly 
took  passage  for  New- York  on  the  31st  of  January,  having  received 
ordination  on  the  8th.    Two  missionaries  for  Hindostan  accompanied 


ROBERT     MORRISON.  247 

him  across  the  Atlantic,  whence  their  ways  parted.  lie  wrote  solemn 
and  affecting  letters  of  farewell  to  his  friends  and  relatives.  To  his 
father  he  wrote:  "Your  last  letter,  dear  father,  comforted  me  much. 
I  hope  that  the  Lord  Christ  will  own  me  as  his  servant,  and  that 
you  will  have  cause  to  rejoice  in  his  work  prospering  in  my  hands. 
I  am  persuaded  that  you  will  not  cease  to  pray  for  me.  Be  com- 
forted in  the  humble  hope  that  I  am  serving  Jesus,  and  never  think 
it  hard  if  I  fare  as  he  did.  '  The  disciple  is  not  above  his  master,  nor 
the  servant  above  his  lord.    It  is  enough  that  they  be  as  their  master.' " 

After  leaving  Gravesend,  the  vessel  was  detained  several  days  in 
the  Downs,  waiting  a  favourable  wind,  and  did  not  get  under  way 
till  the  26th  of  February.  During  the  interval,  she  rode  out  a 
severe  gale  which  placed  the  passengers  in  imminent  peril.  Con- 
trary winds  retarded  their  passage  after  they  made  the  Banks  of 
Newfoundland,  so  that  they  only  reached  New- York  on  the  20th  of 
April,  after  being  at  sea  an  hundred  and  nine  days.  Mr.  Morrison 
remained  in  this  country  till  the  12th  of  May,  enjoying  the  society  of 
Christian  friends  for  whom  he  expressed  the  most  grateful  regard. 
He  obtained  passage  in  a  vessel  for  Canton,  and  was  furnished  with  a 
letter  from  Mr.  Madison,  then  Secretary  of  State,  to  the  American 
consul  at  Canton,  to  favour  his  design  as  far  as  possible,  without 
compromising  the  interests  of  the  United  States.  The  ship-owner, 
in  whose  vessel  he  embarked,  after  settling  for  his  passage,  turned 
from  his  desk,  and  said,  with  a  sarcastic  expression;  "And  so,  Mr. 
Morrison,  you  really  expect  that  you  will  make  an  impression  on 
the  idolatry  of  the  great  Chinese  empire?"  "No,  sir,"  he  replied, 
with  characteristic  firmness,  "I  expect  God  will." 

A  voyage  of  an  hundred  and  thirteen  days  brought  him  into 
Macao  Roads,  and  on  the  7th  of  September  he  arrived  in  Canton. 
The  chance  of  his  remaining  there  was  dubious,  and  still  more 
doubtful  was  it  whether  he  would  be  able  to  prosecute  his  work. 
The  East  India  Company  were  not  likely  to  shelter  him,  and  he 
was  told  that  Chinese  were  forbidden,  under  penalty  of  death,  to 
teach  their  language  to  foreigners.  He  therefore  obtained  apart- 
ments in  the  American  factory,*  and  after  some  difficulty  engaged 
the  services  of  Abel  Yun,  a  Chinese  Roman  Catholic  from  Pekin,, 
as  a  teacher.  Thus  provided,  he  sat  down  on  the  threshold  of  that 
vast  empire,  single-handed,  not  so  much  to  wield,  as  to  prepare  for 

*  A  word  nearly  equivalent  to  a  counting-house,  but  including  the  dwelling  of 
the  merchant. 


248  ROBERT    MORRISON. 

others,  "the  sword  of  the  Spirit,"  with  which  to  overcome  the  ancient 
and  mighty  idolatry  that  enslaves  nearly  half  the  human  family. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  discover  a  more  interesting,  and  at  the 
same  time  more  difficult,  missionary  field  than  China, — the  oldest 
and  most  populous  civilized  empire  in  the  world.  Its  annals  extend 
back  of  all  authentic  profane  history,  carrying  the  mind  upward  to 
the  patriarchal  age,  before  the  exodus  from  Egypt — a  time  when 
Eome  was  not,  when  dubious  legends  alone  tell  of  ancient  Greece, 
when  "great  Babylon"  must  have  been  in  the  infancy  of  its  splen- 
dours. From  the  heights  of  such  a  dim  antiquity,  successive  dynas- 
ties have  kept  the  unity  of  the  Chinese  empire  unbroken  to  the 
present  day.  The  mariner's  compass,  long  before  its  use  had  been 
revealed  to  Europe,  and  made  the  discovery  of  the  western  continent 
possible,  guided  the  Chinese  junk,  and  a  rude  semblance  of  the 
printing  art  perpetuated  the  maxims  of  Confucius  when  as  yet  the 
Bible  existed  only  in  manuscript.  "While  the  military  and  feudal 
spirit  of  western  nations  kept  social  arts  in  a  depressed  state,  internal 
improvements,  rude  and  unscientific,  and  of  course  demanding  pro- 
portionally greater  labour  and  enterprise,  had  been  made, — grand 
canals,*  mountain  highways  rivalling  Napoleon's  Alpine  roads,  and 
the  great  wall,  "  the  only  artificial  structure  that  would  arrest  atten- 
tion in  a  hasty  survey  of  the  globe." 

These  facts,  together  with  the  exclusiveness  that  so  long  denied 
to  foreigners  all  the  usual  intercourse  of  nations,  are  stimulating  to 
the  curiosity ;  but  the  circumstance  that  a  population  of  nearly  four 
hundred  millions,  having  so  many  titles  to  admiration,  are  literally 
without  God,  and  thronging  into  eternity  in  that  state  of  darkness, 
is  fitted  to  strike  a  deeper  chord  of  sympathy  in  the  Christian  heart. 
Unlike  most  nations,  including  those  professedly  Christian,  there 
is  no  established  religion  binding  upon  the  people,  and  it  is  not  easy 
to  define  their  religious  belief  What  is  termed  the  state  religion, 
is  a  mere  pageant.  It  has  no  doctrines,  offers  no  promises,  and  pre- 
.scribes  no  duties,  except  a  certain  ceremonious  homage  periodically 
paid  by  the  emperor  and  his  officers  of  state  to  heaven  and  earth, 
the  sun  and  moon,  and  the  elements  of  nature,  spirits  of  deceased 
emperors,  gods  of  land  and  grain,  mountains,  rivers,  seas,  the  north 

*  The  greatest  of  these,  called  the  "Transit  River,"  six  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in 
length,  was  completed  in  the  fourteenth  century,  and  with  the  rivers  it  connects,  fur- 
nishes a  medium  of  continuous  navii^afion  from  Pekin  to  Canton. 


ROBERT    MORRISON.  2-19 

pole,  and  many  other  things.  The  emperor  is  himself  an  object  of 
religious  homage. 

The  teachings  of  Confucius  are  not  a  religion.  He  was  merely  a 
moral  philosopher,  and  his  writings  consist  of  moral,  economical  and 
prudential  maxims.  He  has  nothing  definite  to  say  of  gods  or 
superior  powers,  or  of  the  future  destiny  of  the  soul.  The  learned 
men  of  the  empire  treat  him  and  his  works  with  extraordinary  ven- 
eration, and  worship  his  tablet.  But  as  departed  spirits  in  every 
household  are  objects  of  adoration  in  like  manner,  these  ceremonies 
cannot  be  said  to  imply  divine  honours,  and  the  great  mass  of  the 
people  have  little  to  do  with  them.  Office-holders  and  office-seekers, 
the  literary  classes  and  "leading  men  "  are  their  chief  patrons.  The 
study  of  the  classical  writings  is  more  general. 

Another  class,  of  great  pretensions,  but  small  in  number  and 
influence,  are  the  Eationalists,  whose  writings  deify  Reason  as  the 
source  of  all  things,  and  prescribe  retirement  and  contemplation  as 
the  means  of  obtaining  happiness  and  wisdom.  But  the  votaries  of 
Reason  have  degenerated  from  these  heights  of  abstraction  to  the 
pursuit  of  astrology,  necromancy,  and  quackery.  The  only  priest- 
hood of  much  authority  with  the  people  is  that  of  Boodh,  and 
Boodhism  is  regarded  as  the  dominant  faith  among  the  great  body 
of  Chinese.  In  general,  however,  and  using  the  word  with  propri- 
ety, they  have  no  religion.  They  have  no  conception  of  a  supreme 
Deity,  and  no  distinct  ideas  of  the  life  after  death.  But  unable  to 
nullify  the  constitution  of  human  nature,  they  fear  while  they  do  not 
know,  and  are  ready  to  propitiate  by  sacrifices  any  superior  power. 
Their  dark  imaginations  conceive  an  infinite  number  of  spirits  in  the 
earth,  the  air  and  the  waters,  gods  of  the  mountains  and  valleys,  of  the 
house  and  the  way-side,  of  the  day  and  night,  of  knowledge,  indus- 
try and  art.  Especially  do  they  revere  the  spirits  of  deceased  ances- 
tors. Everj^  grave  is  an  altar,  and  daily  household  prayer  goes  up 
to  invoke  the  favour  of  departed  parents  and  remoter  kindred.  This 
custom,  so  hallowed  by  affection,  like  the  invocation  of  saints  and 
intercession  for  the  dead  in  the  Romish  church,  perverts  the  deepest 
sympathies  of  nature  to  the  support  of  a  soul-destroying  idolatry. 
The  state  worship  of  nature,  the  writings  of  philosophers,  the 
abstractions  of  the  rationalists,  the  gross  atheism  of  the  Boodhists, 
together  conspire  to  banish  the  knowledge  of  God,  while  all  that  is 
refining  and  elevating  in  fallen  humanity  is  enlisted  to  sanctify  the 
worship  of  the  creature. 


250  ROBERT    MORRISON. 

The  Chinese  do  not  adore  deified  sensuality  or  cruelty.  Human 
sacrifices,  bloody  tortures,  polluting  rites,  that  have  done  so  much 
to  degrade  heathen  nations  in  ancient  and  modern  times,  have  no 
place  in  their  system.  Like  all  pagans  they  are  vicious,  but  they  do 
not  justify,  much  less  reward  and  honour,  vice.  Not  having  the 
law,  they  are  a  law  unto  themselves,  by  which  they  are  condemned. 
Compared  with  other  heathen,  they  are  worthy  of  much  admiration, 
but  all  their  power  and  progress  only  give  new  emphasis  to  the 
exclamation  of  the  sage  poet: 

«     *     *    Unless  above  himself  he  can 
Erect  himself,  how  poor  a  thing  is  man!" 

In  view  of  the  uncertainty  that  rested  on  his  prospects,  arising 
from  the  hostility  of  both  English  and  Chinese  at  Canton,  and  of 
the  Portuguese  at  Macao,  Mr.  Morrison  advised  against  sending  any 
more  missionaries.  He  lived  retired,  and  passed  as  an  American. 
Quiet  movements  appeared  to  be  the  only  practicable  ones.  But 
he  recommended  an  exploration  of  Malacca  and  Penang,  with  refer- 
ence to  the  Chinese  settled  there,  and  also  to  the  Malays.  Toward 
the  close  of  1807  he  found  that  the  American  gentlemen  who  pro- 
tected him  were  a  little  uneasy  at  his  identification  Avith  them.  To 
remove  difficult}''  from  this  source,  and  at  the  same  time  increase 
his  familiarity  with  the  language  and  people,  he  boarded  himself, 
assumed  the  native  costume,  dined  with  his  teacher,  and  associated 
almost  exclusivel}''  with  the  Chinese.  But  he  found  that  this  course 
was  prejudicial  to  his  health,  without  increasing  his  usefulness  or 
aiding  his  object,  and  subsequently  abandoned  it.  However  mis- 
taken his  policy  might  have  been,  it  was  a  mistake  on  the  side  of 
self-denial,  and  showed  his  readiness  to  become  all  things  and 
endure  all  things,  if  so  he  might  advance  the  important  interests 
committed  to  his  charge. 

As  he  made  progress  in  his  studies,  the  English  residents  at  Can- 
ton began  to  show  more  sympathy  and  respect  for  him,  and  by 
procuring  books  and  in  other  ways,  endeavoured  to  aid  him.  His 
absorption  in  study  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  attempt  preach- 
ing or  any  other  direct  missionary  work,  but  he  taught  his  servants 
to  observe  the  Lord's  day,  and  then  instructed  them,  so  far  as  his 
knowledge  of  the  language  permitted,  and  as  he  could  gain  their 
attention  in  the  truths  of  Christianity.  But  close  application  to 
study,  extreme  economy  which  he  practised  to  save  to  the  society, 


ROBERT    MORRISON.  251 

as  much  as  possible,  the  great  expense  of  living  at  Canton,  and 
anxiety  with  respect  to  the  chances  of  his  being  permitted  to  remain 
there,  preyed  upon  his  health,  and  in  a  great  degree  unfitted  him 
for  labour.  By  medical  advice  he  removed  to  Macao  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1808,  where  he  remained  three  months.  His  health  was 
much  improved,  and  he  returned  to  Canton,  but  the  English  were 
all  ordered  from  that  city,  and  he  again  took  refuge  at  Macao.  The 
trouble  originated  in  the  sending  of  a  squadron  by  order  of  the 
East  India  Company,  to  defend  Macao  against  an  expected  attack 
of  the  French.  Macao  is  held  by  the  Portuguese,  not  as  an  inde- 
pendent possession,  but  at  the  will  of  the  Chinese  government. 
This  fact  was  either  not  known  or  not  duly  considered  by  tlie  gov- 
ernor-general in  sending  the  expedition;  the  Chinese  resented  the 
imputation,  that  they  could  not  defend  their  territories  against  the 
French,  and  all  commerce  with  the  English  was  suspended  till  the 
troops  were  withdrawn. 

At  Macao,  he  plodded  on  in  his  studies  with  unyielding  industry 
and  the  most  watchful  circumspection.  That  be  might  perfect  him- 
self in  the  language,  he  used  it  as  much  as  possible,  so  that  even  his 
secret  prayers  were  uttered  in  broken  Chinese.  Under  the  Portu- 
guese dominion,  he  had  to  guard  against  the  hostility  not  only  of 
the  Chinese,  but  of  bigoted  Eomanists,  For  this  reason,  he  ven- 
tured out  of  doors  as  little  as  possible.  The  first  time  he  walked 
in  the  fields  near  the  town,  was  on  a  moonlight  night,  escorted  by 
two  Chinese.  This  mode  of  living  injured  his  health,  so  that  at 
last  he  could  hardly  muster  strength  to  walk  his  room  with  com- 
fort. Under  all  these  disadvantages,  aggravated  by  his  loneliness, 
he  yet  made  encouraging  progress.  At  the  close  of  1808,  he  had 
prepared  a  Chinese  grammar,  had  commenced  a  dictionary,  and  pre- 
pared a  part  of  the  New-Testament  for  the  press. 

In  the  beginning  of  1809,  he  formed  the  acquaintance  of  Dr. 
Morton,  a  gentleman  from  Ireland,  who,  with  his  family,  resided  at 
Macao.  Their  society  was  a  great  relief  to  his  mind,  and  was  con- 
nected with  an  important  change  in  his  life.  He  found  the  son  of 
Dr.  M.  much  interested  in  the  subject  of  religion,  and  with  Miss 
Morton,  the  eldest  daughter,  he  contracted  an  intimacy  that  led  to 
their  marriage,  a  union  the  more  endearing  because  she  was  his 
spiritual  child.  The  difficulty  of  residing  at  Macao  was  so  great, 
that  he  was  contemplating  a  removal  to  Penang,  when  he  was 
appointed  b}^  the  factory  of  the  East  India  Company  their  Chinese 


252  ROBERT    MORRISON. 

translator,  at  a  salary  of  five  hundred  pounds  per  annum,  u  higli 
compliment  to  his  attainments,  and  a  security  against  disturbance 
in  his  work  from  any  quarter.  At  the  same  time,  it  removed  from 
his  mind  the  harassing  anxiety  which  the  expense  of  his  mission  to 
the  society  had  hitherto  occasioned.  By  this  event,  the  permanence 
of  his  labours  and  of  his  usefulness  became  secure,  and  the  remain- 
der of  his  life  was  rendered  comparatively  easy.  There  still 
remained,  indeed,  the  disheartening  toil  of  acquiring  such  a  lan- 
guage as  the  Chinese,  a  "never-ending,  still-beginning"  task;  a 
language  most  ingeniously  combining  an  almost  hopeless  complex- 
ity, with  the  utmost  barrenness,  requiring  years  to  master  its  use, 
and  furnishing  but  a  sorry  medium  for  the  communication  of  spirit- 
ual truths  when  mastered.  And  there  was  the  yet  more  hopeless 
effort  (to  the  eye  of  man)  to  supplant  the  hostility  of  idolaters, 
aggravated  by  their  supercilious  contempt  and  narrow  hatred  of  all 
foreigners.  But  what  he  could  not  do  by  himself,  he  believed, 
as  he  told  the  skeptical  merchant  of  New-York,  that  God  would 
do  for  him. 

Besides  instruction  in  the  language,  his  assistants  undertook  to 
read  with  him  the  four  books  of  Kung-fu-tsze,  or  Confucius,  of 
whom  he  expresses  the  following  judgment:  "He  appears  to  have 
been  an  able  and  upright  man;  rejected,  for  the  most  part,  the 
superstitions  of  the  times,  but  had  nothing  that  could  be  called 
religion  to  supply  their  place.  On  the  relative  duties  between  man 
and  man,  he  found  himself  able  to  decide;  and  on  these,  his  dis- 
ciples say,  he  dwelt:  respecting  the  gods,  he  was  unable  to  judge, 
and  thought  it  insulting  to  them  to  agitate  the  question,  and  there- 
fore declined  it.  All  his  disciples  now  affect  to  despise  the  two 
religious  sects  of  Foh  (the  Boodhists),  and  Tau  (the  Rationalists),  yet 
feeling  the  defect  of  the  cold  system  of  Kung-fu-tsze,  they  generally 
practise  the  rites  prescribed  by  one  or  both  of  these  sects."  These 
studies  were  prosecuted  with  great  secresy.  The  Chinese  govern- 
ment are  watchful  to  prevent  foreigners  from  possessing  their 
books,  and  whenever  visited  by  the  viceroy  or  any  of  his  officials, 
the  precious  volumes  were  required  to  be  hidden.  The  lack  of 
Christian  friends,  after  the  departure  of  his  parents-in-law,  con- 
curred with  other  causes  to  make  his  situation  lonely.  Mrs,  Morri- 
son spoke  Portuguese,  but  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Macao  shunned 
them.  The  clergy  dissuaded  the  natives  under  their  influence 
from  visiting   the  "heretical  missionar3^ ''     One  of  them  replied  to 


ROBERT    MORRISON.  253 

such  a  caution,  tliat  "he  saw  nothing  bad  about  the  missionary;  the    \ 
only  remarkable  thing  about  him,  was  his  strictness  in  keeping  the 
die  dominical — the  Lord's  day.      Even  the  English  residents  did 
not  find  in  the  elevated  piety  of  Mr.  Morrison,  much  to  attract 
them,  and  he  mingled  little  in  their  society. 

The  office  he  held  had  its  advantages,  but  was  also  the  source  of 
many  trials.  It  interrupted  his  labours,  and  broke  in  upon  his 
domestic  life,  when  to  leave  his  home  was  doubly  hard.  His  wife 
was  afflicted  in  the  year  1810  with  a  disease  that  was  pronounced 
incurable,  but  she  gradually  recovered  a  measure  of  health.  Their 
first-born  son  was  laid  in  the  grave  during  the  same  period.  During 
this  year,  he  became  satisfied  that  the  version  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apos- 
tles, which  he  had  transcribed  in  London,  was  sufficiently  accurate  to 
justify  its  publication,  with  a  few  amendments.  This  he  effected,  and 
an  edition  of  one  thousand  copies  was  printed.  In  the  course  of  the 
next  year,  he  prepared  a  version  of  Luke,  and  a  tract,  entitled, 
"The  Divine  Doctrine  of  the  Eedemption  of  the  World."  His 
Chinese  Grammar  was  forwarded  to  Bengal,  to  be  printed  at  the 
expense  of  the  East  India  Company,  but  for  some  reason  it  remained 
in  manuscript  three  years.  A  catechism  was  also  compiled,  and  he 
continued  his  preaching  on  Sundays  to  the  natives  in  his  own  house- 
hold, who  listened  "with  decency  and  seriousness."  Amid  his  toils 
and  hardships,  he  looked  to  his  friends  in  England  with  earnest 
sympathy,  but  without  envy  or  repining.  "From  our  solitary  \ 
exile,"  he  writes,  "we  look  on  our  native  country,  and  rejoice  to 
hear  of  all  the  busy  and  useful  labours  of  happy  Christians  there. 
We  would  not  envy  you,  but  rejoice  in  your  joy.  We  long  for 
some  of  your  happy  society.  But  whilst  I  express  these  wishes  of 
my  heart,  I  do  not  repine  against  the  disposals  of  our  Lord.  No, 
I  bless  his  holy  name,  that  he  has  called  me  to  the  field  of  labour 
in  which  I  am  placed.  My  only  source  of  regret  is,  that  I  cannot, 
or  rather  that  I  do  not,  serve  him  better." 

The  Chinese  government,  excited,  probably,  by  some  movements 
of  the  Jesuits, — for  of  Mr.  Morrison's  proceedings  they  could  have 
had  no  knowledge,' — issued  an  edict  in  1812,  denouncing  death  on 
propagators  of  Christianity,  and  banishment  or  imprisonment  on 
such  as  should  embrace  it.  In  communicating  this  to  the  Mission- 
ary Society,  Mr.  Morrison  remarked:  "You  will  see,  that  to  print 
books  on  the  Christian  religion  in  Chinese,  is  rendered  a  capital  crime. 
I  must,  however,  go  forward,  trusting  in  the  Lord.     We  will  scrupu- 


254  ROBERT    MORRISON. 

lously  obey  governments,  as  far  as  their  decrees  do  not  oppose  what 
is  required  by  the  Almighty:  I  will  be  careful  not  to  invite  the  notice 
of  government."  The  directors  encouraged  this  determination,  and 
further  to  strengthen  him,  appointed  Rev.  W.  Milne,  as  a  colleague 
in  the  mission.  The  threats  of  the  government  did  not  prevent  the 
occasional  distribution  of  Scriptures  and  tracts,  which  were  read 
with  avidity,  and  in  one  instance  he  learned  that  a  very  vicious 
man,  who  had  formerly  professed  the  Roman  Catholic  faith,  wholly 
reformed  his  life,  from  the  casual  perusal  of  a  tract  which  he  had 
picked  up;  and  his  little  domestic  congregation,  eleven  in  number, 
gained  so  much  knowledge  of  the  truth,  as  to  become  perceptibly 
ashamed  of  idol-worship.  By  degrees,  two  of  them  began  to  mani- 
fest a  deeper  interest  in  the  truth  and  in  the  family-worship,  and  in 
November,  one  of  them,  named  A.  Fo,  professed  his  belief  in  Christ, 
and  desired  baptism,  but  in  private.  Though  Mr.  Morrison  did  not 
clearly  see  it  to  be  his  duty  to  comply  with  the  request,  yet  the  cir- 
cumstance was  a  most  grateful  encourageme«t  to  his  feelings. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Milne  arrived  at  Macao  on  the  4th  of  July,  1813, 
and  their  presence  was  to  the  lonely  missionary  family  a  source  of 
great  present  and  anticipated  happiness,  but  it  was  soon  dissipated. 
The  Portuguese  authorities  were  under  the  absolute  dictation  of 
the  Romish  bishop  and  clergy ;  these  had  already  taken  umbrage  at 
Mr.  Morrison's  proceedings,  but  his  position  in  the  employ  of  the 
East  India  Company  made  it  impossible  to  meddle  with  him.  No 
such  defence  existed  for  Mr.  Milne,  and  he  was  ordered  to  leave 
Macao  in  eighteen  days.  Mr.  Morrison  thought  that  the  agents  of 
the  Company  treated  him  unkindly  in  declining  to  put  forth  their 
influence  to  allow  him  an  associate,  but  in  truth  they  had  barely 
tolerated  his  missionary  efforts,  which  they  deemed  hardly  consist- 
ent with  the  duties  of  his  appointment,  and  were  at  no  pains  to  aid 
or  countenance  them.  Mr.  Milne  removed  to  Canton,  where  he  could 
communicate  with  his  colleague  occasionally,  and  pursued  the  stud}' 
of  the  language. 

Mr.  Morrison  completed  the  translation  of  the  New-Testament 
in  September.  During  the  autumn  he  was  depressed  in  spirit  at 
the  seal  which  was  put  on  the  free  proclamation  of  the  truth.  "It 
is  my  heart's  wish,"  he  wrote,  "to  go  away  to  a  more  comfortable 
residence,  where  freedom  may  be  given  to  communicate  fully  and 
publicly  'the  good  tidings.'  I  have  a  strong  impression  on  my 
mind  that  Java  would  be  a  better  place  than  this  for  our  mission,"' 


ROBERT    MORRISON.  255 

The  more  active  hostility  of  the  government,  in  the  following  year, 
led  to  the  further  consideration  and  the  partial  adoption  of  this 
policy.  The  hong  merchants  disclosed  his  name  to  the  government, 
with  the  fact  that  he  had  acquired  the  language,  and  that  all  the 
official  commnications  of  the  English  were  prepared  by  him.  The 
arrest  of  his  assistants  was  ordered,  and  he  was  obliged  to  send 
them  away.  The  printing  of  the  New-Testament  was  carried  for- 
ward with  the  utmost  secresy,  and  he  spent  four  months  at  Canton, 
instructing  Mr.  Milne  in  the  language,  at  the  expiration  of  which  an 
exploration  of  the  Chinese  Archipelago  was  decided  on,  that  ulti- 
mately resulted  in  founding  the  mission  at  Malacca.  Mr.  Milne  was 
dispatched  on  this  errand  with  a  quantity  of  books  for  distribution, 
and  having  accomplished  the  main  objects  of  his  voyage,  returned 
to  Canton  in  September,  1814.  During  his  absence,  Mr.  Morrison 
prepared  and  jDublished  in  pamphlet  form  an  outline  of  the  Old- 
Testament  history,  and  a  small  collection  of  hymns  for  the  purposes 
of  worship.  An  edition  of  the  New-Testament  in  duodecimo  form 
was  also  resolved  upon,  not  only  for  greater  convenience  of  distri- 
bution, but  also  for  the  security  of  a  second  set  of  blocks,  to  guard 
against  the  contingency  of  the  loss  or  destruction  of  the  other.  The 
expense  was  borne  by  a  bequest  from  W.  Parry,  Esq.,  of  the  East 
India  Company's  Factory  at  Canton. 

From  his  first  arrival,  Mr.  Morrison  had  in  view  the  preparation 
of  a  Chinese  dictionary,  and  had  prosecuted  the  work  from  time  to 
time  as  occasion  served.  The  magnitude  and  expense  of  the  publi- 
cation placed  it  beyond  the  compass  of  his  individual  means,  and 
made  its  assumption  by  the  Missionary  Society  a  matter  of  doubtful 
propriety.  The  East  India  Company,  with  a  liberal  appreciation 
of  its  value  to  the  public,  offered  to  print  it,  and  a  press  was  sent 
out  for  this  purpose.  Mr.  Thoms,  the  superintendent  of  the  press, 
was  able,  and  showed  a  readiness  to  render  aid  to  the  mission  in  the 
publication  of  scriptures  and  tracts.  This  year  was  made  memora- 
ble by  the  evident  conversion  of  the  first  Chinese  under  Mr.  Morri- 
son's labours,  Tsae  A.  Fo,  previously  mentioned,  a  man  twenty-seven 
years  of  age,  who  had  been  six  years  under  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tian instruction,  but  was  more  especially  impressed  by  reading  the 
New-Testament,  the  printing  of  which  he  superintended.  Mr.  Mor- 
rison thus  notices  the  event  in  his  journal:  "July  16,  1814. — At  a 
spring  of  water  issuing  from  the  foot  of  a  lofty  hill  on  the  sea-side, 
awa_y  from  human  observation,  I  baptized,  in  the  name  of  the 


25G  ROBERT    MORRISON". 

/  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Spirit,  the  person  whose  character  and  pro- 
fession has  been  given  above.  0  that  the  Lord  may  cleanse  him 
from  all  sin  in  the  blood  of  Jesus,  and  purify  his  heart  by  the  influ- 
ences of  the  Holy  Spirit!  May  he  be  the  first-fruits  of  a  great 
harvest;  one  of  millions  who  shall  believe  and  be  saved  from  the 
wrath  to  come!" 

The  book  of  Genesis  was  translated  and  printed  in  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1815.  It  was  now  decided  that  the  very  limited  oppor- 
tunities of  usefulness  enjoyed  by  Mr.  Milne  at  Canton  were  insuffi- 
cient to  justify  his  continuance  there,  and  he  proceeded  to  Malacca, 
at  which  station  the  residue  of  his  valuable  life  was  spent  in  for- 
warding the  mission  among  the  numerous  Chinese  emigrants  that 
inhabit  the  Malayan  peninsula.  Another  separation,  more  painful 
still,  embittered  this  year.  Mrs.  Morrison  had  been  for  some  time 
indisposed,  and  a  change  of  climate  became  necessary.  She  accord- 
ingly embarked  for  England  with  her  two  children,  leaving  her 
nusband,  whose  sensibilities,  though  never  paraded  before  men  or 
on  paper,  were  very  tender,  to  spend  six  years  alone,  labouring 
without  earthly  support  or  sympathy  nearer  than  the  opposite 
hemisphere. 

The  publication  by  the  Missionary  Society  of  Mr.  Morrison's 
determination  to  continue  his  religious  labours,  notwithstanding  the 
imperial  edict  against  Christianity  alarmed  the  Directors  of  the  East 
India  Company.  Losing  sight  of  the  fact,  or  perhaps  not  having  at 
all  understood  that  Mr.  Morrison  was  unknown  to  the  government, 
whose  decree  had  direct  reference  to  the  Eoman  Catholics,  the  only 
Christians  known  to  the  authorities,  they  dreaded  the  effect  of  hav- 
ing a  missionary  identified  with  the  Company's  service,  and  ordered 
his  dismissal,  with  the  payment  of  four  thousand  dollars  as  an 
acknowledgment  of  their  indebtedness  to  him  during  the  term  of  his 
engagement.  But  the  Company's  agents  at  Macao,  while  making 
no  open  resistance  to  the  orders  they  received,  felt  so  strongly  their 
need  of  his  assistance,  that  they  continued  to  employ  him  confiden- 
tially, and  he  was  of  essential  service  in  some  perplexing  negotiations 
with  the  provincial  government.  He  also  received  an  appointment 
from  the  British  government  as  secretary  to  Lord  Amherst,  commis- 
sioned on  an  extraordinary  embassy  to  the  court  of  Pekin.  He 
went  to  the  capital  in  the  suite  of  the  ambassador,  and  enjoyed  the 
opportunity  of  extending  his  acquaintance  with  the  character  and 
manners  of  this  extraordinary  people. 


ROBERT    MORRISON.  257 

Tlie  embassy  came  to  nothing,  for  a  reason  tliat  curiously  illus- 
trates the  fashion  in  which  the  emperor  is  imposed  upon  by  his 
ministers.  Lord  Amherst  and  suite  arrived  at  Pekin  after  travelling 
all  night,  and  was  summoned  to  an  immediate  interview  with  the 
emperor,  but  excused  himself  on  the  ground  of  extreme  fatigue,  and 
begged  that  the  audience  might  be  postponed.  The  minister,  per- 
haps fearing  that  the  true  excuse  would  not  be  satisfactory,  improved 
upon  it  by  averring  that  the  ambassador  was  so  ill  as  to  be  unable 
to  move.  His  majesty  was  concerned  at  this  information,  and  sent 
his  physician  forthwith  to  examine  and  relieve  the  patient.  Of 
course  no  such  serious  indisposition  was  ascertained.  The  emperor 
thought  himself  imposed  upon  by  the  foreigners,  refused  to  permit 
an  interview,  and  though  he  punished  the  guilty  minister  on  dis- 
covering the  facts,  thought  it  beneath  his  dignity  to  retract  his 
refusal.  Lord  Amherst  was  very  respectfully  and  ceremoniously 
bowed  out  of  the  "middle  kingdom,"  the  only  atonement  that  was 
made  for  the  rudeness  of  his  original  repulse. 

In  1817,  Mr.  Morrison  thus  reviewed  the  labours  of  ten  years: 
"  To  learn  the  language,  and  by  degrees  render  the  sacred  Scriptures 
into  Chinese,  was  the  object  which  we  immediately  contemplated. 
Your  mission  to  China  now  possesses  considerable  knowledge  of  the 
country,— the  character  of  the  people  and  the  language.  It  is  fur- 
nished with  instruments  with  which  to  begin  the  more  spiritual  part 
of  its  labours.  The  New-Testament  is  rendered  into  Chinese,  has 
been  in  part  put  into  circulation,  and  will,  we  trust,  produce  salu- 
tary effects,  for  the  'word  of  the  Lord  shall  not  return  to  him  void.' 
An  important  and  promising  branch  of  the  mission  has  been  estab- 
lished at  Malacca;  and  from  thence  divine  truth  has,  by  means  of 
the  press,  been  diffused  amongst  those  who  read  and  speak  Chinese, 
to  a  considerable  extent.  Two  persons  have  renounced  idolatry, 
and  professed  faith  in  our  Lord  Jesus.  Let  us  not  be  imgrateful. 
We,  or  our  successors,  shall  see  greater  things  than  these  if  we  faint 
not."  Besides  the  works  enumerated,  some  progress  had  been  made 
in  the  translation  of  the  'Old-Testament,  in  conjunction  with  Mr. 
Milne,  the  morning  and  evening  prayers  of  the  church  of  England 
were  translated,  together  with  the  tracts  heretofore  mentioned.  Con- 
cerning these  prayers,  he  remarks  that  the  natives  needed  helps  to 
social  devotion,  and  adds:  "The  Church  of  Scotland  supplied  us 
with  a  catechism,— the  Congregational  churches  afforded  us  a  form 
17 


258  KOBERT    MORKISOISr. 

for  a  Cliristian  assembly, — and  the  Churcli  of  England  has  supplied 
us  with  a  manual  of  devotion,  as  a  help  to  those  who  are  not  suffi- 
ciently instructed  to  conduct  social  worship  without  such  aid.  We 
are  of  no  party.  We  recognise  but  two  divisions  of  our  fellow- 
creatures, — the  righteous  and  the  wicked, — those  who  fear  God,  and 
those  who  do  not;  those  who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  those 
who  do  not.  Grace  be  with  all  them  that  love  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  sincerity.     Amen  and  Amen!" 

A  detailed  review  of  the  first  ten  years  of  the  mission,  enlarged 
by  Dr.  Milne,  was  printed  at  Malacca.  Mr.  Morrison  also  published 
a  work  entitled  "Horse  Sinicae,"  upon  China  and  its  literature,  and 
made  some  progress  with  his  dictionary.  These  labours  attracted 
the  attention  of  learned  men  in  different  countries,  who  opened  a 
correspondence  with  him  on  philological  and  other  subjects  in  the 
sphere  of  his  researches,  and  prompted  the  University  of  Glasgow 
to  confer  upon  him  the  merited  honour  of  Doctor  in  Divinity.  The 
foundation  of  the  Anglo-Chinese  College  at  Malacca  was  a  consum- 
mation devoutly  rejoiced  in  by  Dr.  Morrison,  who  contributed  from 
his  own  slender  means  one  thousand  pounds  towards  the  erection  of 
the  building,  and  one  hundred  pounds  per  annum  for  five  years 
towards  its  support,  besides  valuable  books  for  the  library. 

On  the  25th  of  November,  1819,  Dr.  Morrison  had  the  happiness 
of  writing:  "By  the  mercy  of  God,  an  entire  version  of  the  books 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  into  the  Chinese  language,  was 
this  day  brought  to  a  conclusion."  Of  this  work,  twenty-six  books 
of  the  Old  Testament  were  prejDared  by  himself,  the  residue  by  Dr. 
Milne ;  the  New-Testament,  except  the  book  of  Acts  and  the  Epis- 
tles of  St.  Paul,  which  were  revised  from  the  version  by  an  unknown 
hand  in  the  British  Museum,  was  his  own  production.  He  was 
aware  that  no  single  scholar  could  make  a  standard  version,  and 
contented  himself  with  the  humble  confidence  that  his  work  was 
sufficiently  exact  to  be  intelligible,  and  the  hope  that,  like  the  early 
transUitions  of  Wickliffe  and  Tyndale  into  English,  with  which  he 
compared  it,  his  version  might  be  the  fo*rerunner  and  a  valuable  aid 
to  future  and  more  perfect  editions.  With  this  and  his  dictionary, 
the  most  necessary  and  important  part  of  which  was  completed,  he 
might  have  felt  that  his  duty  was  accomplished,  but  he  was  not  the 
man  to  retire  into  ease  or  idleness,  while  life  and  strength  were  given 
him  to  persevere  in  efforts  for  the  evangelization  of  China. 


ROBERT    MORRISON.  259 

His  family  rejoined  him,  after  an  absence  of  six  years,  in  Aurrust 
1820.  But  their  reunion  was  but  for  a  brief  interval.  Mrs.  Morri- 
son died  suddenly  in  June  of  the  following  year,  and  his  children 
were  sent  to  England,  leaving  him  once  more  solitary,  his  loneline&s 
made  all  the  more  oppressive  by  its  contrast  with  the  domestic  and 
religious  enjoyments  he  had  experienced  during  so  many  years, 
interrupted,  it  is  true,  by  absence,  but  ever  cheered  by  the  hope  of 
their  renewal.  The  next  year  another  bereavement,  and  one  in 
which  the  entire  Christian  community  deeply  sympathized,  fell  on 
the  mission, — Dr.  Milne  was  no  more.  He  felt  the  loss  more  deeply 
than  he  could  express,  and  received  the  *  affliction  as  a  call  to  gird 
himself  for  more  active  exertion  in  the  work  they  had  prosecuted 
in  common,  with  such  unity  of  spirit.  But  difficulties  between  the 
English  and  Chinese  withdrew  him  in  a  greater  measure  to  the  irk- 
some duties  of  an  official  interpreter,  and  before  these  were  brought 
to  a  conclusion,  a  great  fire,  more  destructive,  he  remarks,  than  tho.t 
of  London  in  1666,  devastated  a  large  section  of  Canton,  consumed 
the  foreign  factories,  and  greatly  hindered  him  in  his  labours. 

He  took  an  early  opportunity  to  visit  Malacca,  to  examine  the 
state  of  that  branch  of  the  mission.  The  expedition  occupied  the 
first  six  months  of  1823,  and  in  the  course  of  the  voyage  he  assisted 
in  laying  the  foundations  of  an  institution  at  Singapore,  similar  to 
the  college  at  Malacca.  Liberal  aid  was  given  by  the  government, 
and  he  himself  gave  a  considerable  sum  towards  the  object,  but  after 
three  or  four  years  of  mismanagement,  it  was  suspended,  and  the 
investment  lost.  At  Malacca  he  was  abundant  in  labours,  preaching 
teaching,  consulting  with  his  colleagues,  and  making  valuable  sug- 
gestions on  the  conduct  of  the  mission.  After  his  return  to  Canton, 
he  found  himself  so  much  reduced  by  exhausting  toil,  that  he  decided 
on  accepting  the  invitation,  extended  some  time  before  by  the  Direct- 
ors of  the  Missionary  Society,  to  visit  England.  He  accordingly  set 
sail  in  December,  1823,  and  arrived  once  more  in  his  native  land  in 
the  following  March. 

His  reception  was  more  enthusiastic  than  he  could  have  hoped. 
Not  only  the  various  benevolent  societies,  whose  almoner  he  had 
been,  but  other  public  bodies  and  distinguished  personages,  united 
to  testify  their  veneration  for  the  translator  of  the  Bible  into  the 
language  of  nearly  half  the  human  race.  The  king  received  him 
with  marked  attention,  and  when  he  preached  in  Newcastle,  his 
native  town,  crowds  thronged  to  hear  him,  and  multitudes  found  it 


260  EGBERT    ilOllEISOX. 

impossible  to  get  within  the  sound  of  his  voice.  But  he  came  home 
for  other  objects  than  merely  to  be  caressed  and  to  make  a  sensation. 
He  visited  Scotland,  Ireland  and  different  sections  of  England,  to 
excite  and  deej)en  interest  in  his  mission,  published  several  essays 
on  Chinese  literature,  and  gave  special  attention  to  the  formation 
of  the  Universal  Language  Institution, — intended  to  teach  all  the 
languages  of  the  earth  as  far  as  teachers  and  books  could  be  procured, 
as  auxiliary  to  the  different  missionary  organizations.  It  was  com- 
menced under  favourable  auspices,  but  was  short-lived.  The  public 
interest  in  it  declined,  and  its  failure  was  one  of  the  first  items  of 
intelligence  he  received  after  his  return  to  his  duties  abroad.  '  The 
disappointment  was  great,  but  the  opinion  is  now  settled,  that  the 
acquisition  of  any  language  can  be  best  secured  among  the  people 
who  speak  it, — an  opinion  which  it  is  strange  Dr.  Morrison  should 
have  missed  of, — considering  his  own  slender  success  in  studying 
Chinese  in  London.  Various  circumstances  protracted  his  stay  in 
England  till  the  spring  of  1826,  during  which  period  he  married  a 
second  time.  Before  his  return,  he  asked  of  the  Directors  of  the 
East  India  Company,  according  to  official  etiquette,  permission  to 
resume  his  residence  at  Canton,  and  to  take  his  two  children  with 
him.  The  Directors,  in  that  narrow  spirit  which  generallj^  charac- 
terized their  dealings  with  him,  though  chequered  by  frequent  acts 
of  impulsive  liberality,  refused  leave  to  take  the  children,  and  lim- 
ited his  service  to  three  years.  The  first  of  these  resolutions  was 
retracted,  so  that  he  was  spared  a  separation  fi'ora  his  family;  and 
the  second,  like  a  former  determination  of  the  same  kind,  was  ulti- 
mately disregarded,  his  services  being  altogether  too  valuable  to  be 
dispensed  with. 

From  his  arrival  at  Macao  in  September,  1826,  to  the  conclusion 
of  his  labours,  there  was  little  to  diversify  the  course  of  his  life. 
The  advent  of  two  fellow-labourers  from  the  United  States,  in  1830, 
was  a  source  of  peculiar  gratification.  He  had  corresponded  on  the 
subject,  and  it  was  at  his  instance  that  the  American  Board  took 
measures  for  founding  their  mission  in  China.  The  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  oral  instruction  were  still  in  force,  and  the  most  efficient 
means  of  evangelization  were  necessarily  postponed  till  a  later  period, 
when  the  opening  of  the  ports  of  China  to  the  commerce  of  the 
world,  with  a  guaranty  for  the  toleration  of  Christianity,  gave  to 
the  Christian  world  free  access  to  those  benighted  millions.  Morri- 
son "died  without  the  sight"  of  this  auspicious  event,  but  he  was 


EGBERT    MORRISON.  261 

assiduous  in  that  department  of  effort  wliich  remained  open  to  liiin, 
the  circulation  of  books.  He  composed  tracts,  and  gave  particuLar 
attention  to  a  commentary  on  the  Bible,  portions  of  which  were  pub- 
lished in  four  volumes,  under  the  title  of  the  "Domestic  Instructor.'' 
He  also^  did  much,  as  he  found  opportunity,  for  the  welfare  of 
European  and  American  residents,  especially  seamen,  to  whom  he 
preached  as  regularly  as  circumstances  admitted.  In  1833  the  Por- 
tuguese were  offended  at  some  of  his  publications,  and  prohibited 
further  printing  in  his  house,  but  happily  there  was  a  sufficient  stock 
of  publications  already  on  hand  to  enable  the  distribution  to  go  on 
during  the  suspension  of  the  press.  Thus  he  continued,  cheerfully- 
tasking  his  energies  in  every  work  that  promised  benefit  to  his  fel- 
low-men, regardless  of  his  own  infirmities,  till  the  summer  of  1834. 
when  he  found  himself  much  weakened  by  his  toils.  The  expiration 
of  the  charter  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  its  renewal  on  terms 
that  involved  a  radical  change  in  the  conduct  of  affairs  at  Canton, 
gave  such  an  aspect  of  instability  to  all  his  arrangements,  that  he 
again  sent  his  family  to  England.  The  British  government  required 
of  him  the  same  service  that  the  Company  had  done,  multiplied  by 
the  changes  that  took  place  in  administration.  He  executed  his 
augmented  duties  with  cheerfulness,  with  evidence  of  increasing- 
weakness,  though  without  apprehensions  of  immediate  danger.  But 
a  fever  set  in,  which  baffled  medical  skill,  and  on  the  first  of  August. 
1834,  he  breathed  his  last.  His  body  was  followed  to  its  last  resting- 
place  by  the  European  residents  with  every  testimony  of  respect 
which  the  occasion  demanded.  A  monument  with  an  appropriate 
inscription  commemorates  his  labours  and  virtues.  A  more  suitable 
memorial  exists  in  the  "Morrison  Education  Society,"  formed  after 
his  death,  with  a  liberal  endowment,  which  still  exists,  to  diffuse  the 
savour  of  his  example,  and  to  do  its  part  in  the  work  of  elevating  the 
people  for  whose  welfare  he  spent  his  laborious  life. 

To  spend  twenty-seven  years  in  laying  a  foundation  without  the 
hope  of  seeing  a  superstructure, — in  forging  weapons  which  must  be 
bequeathed  to  others  for  use, — would  seem  to  be  an  arduous  and 
disheartening  lot.  Such  was  Morrison's.  He  knew  that  such  it 
Avould  be  when  he  first  entered  upon  it,  but  was  not  discourao-cd  at 
the  prospect.  He  felt  its  hardships  very  sensibly  in  its  progress, 
but,  though  sad,  never  fainted.  It  was,  as  it  seemed,  the  post  of 
duty,  and  he  was  content  to  wait  for  his  reward  when  the  fulness 
of  time  should  come,  if  he  might  see  it  in  time,  and  if  not,  when 


262  ROBERT    MORRISON. 

eternity  should  reveal  it.  And  he  gained  more  than  lie  liaJ  reason 
to  hope.  He  was  permitted  to  gather  into  the  Christian  church  ten 
sincere  converts,  to  ordain  one  of  these  to  the  work  of  the  ministry, 
and  to  rejoice  in  the  assurance  that  his  work  had  an  indestructible 
vitality  communicated  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord.  For  such  an 
enterprise  he  had  rare  mental  and  moral  aptitudes.  With  nothing 
brilliant  or  showy,  he  possessed  a  strong  and  sinewy  intellect,  unu- 
sual powers  of  concentration  and  perseverance,  a  calm  and  sagacious 
judgment.  He  could  labour  strenuously  without  discouragement, 
to  the  end  which  his  judgment  had  determined,  and  if  his  projects 
failed,  it  was  never  through  his  own  default,  but  for  want  of  cooper- 
ation. His  piety  was  deep,  thorough,  all-pervading, — the  guiding- 
principle  of  his  life,  which  was  singularly  pure  and  blameless.  It 
was  a  good  providence  that  gave  such  a  pioneer  to  the  enterprise  of 
Protestant  missions  in  China,  and  whenever  the  millions  of  that  idol- 
atrous empire  are  brought  into  subjection  to  the  only  living  God,  it 
will  be  acknowledged  by  all,  that  of  human  agency  in  their  redemp- 
tion, the  first  place  belongs  to  Morrison. 


WILLIAM    MILNE. 


William  Milne  was  born  in  tlae  parish  of  Kennethmont,  Aber- 
deenshire, Scotland,  in  the  year  1785.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
but  six  years  of  age,  and  he  was  brought  up  by  his  mother  in  humble 
circumstances.  He  received  the  education  common  to  those  of  his 
condition  in  Scotland,  and  had  a  noticeable  predilection  for  books, 
but  his  religious  culture  was  neglected,  and  his  habits  were  far  from 
exemplary.  "In  profane  swearing  and  other  sins  of  a  like  nature," 
he  says,  in  the  narrative  he  gave  of  his  early  years,  "I  far  exceeded 
most  of  my  equals,  and  became  vile  to  a  proverb.  I  can  remember 
the  time  when  I  thought  that  to  invent  new  oaths  would  reflect 
honour  on  my  character,  and  make  me  like  the  great  ones  of  the 
earth. "  This  self-accusation  was  confirmed  by  one  of  his  neighbours, 
who  spoke  of  him  as  "a  very  deevil  for  swearing."  A  habit  so  unu- 
sual among  the  Scottish  peasantry  must  have  been  acquired  from 
such  "great  ones"  as  have  too  often  represented  England  on  their 
travels,  and  made  profane  oaths  among  the  first  rudiments  of  the 
English  language  mastered  by  French  and  Italian  boys.  He  read 
the  Bible  reluctantly  and  from  constraint,  and  learned  the  Assem- 
bly's Catechism  by  heart,  from  a  desire  to  be  equal  with  his  neighbours 
and  to  avoid  the  displeasure  of  the  parish  clergyman.  He  sometimes 
said  his  prayers  at  night,  "for  fear  of  the  evil  spirit,"  against  whose 
influence  he  believed  his  prayers  to  be  an  effectual  security.  Yet  it 
is  plain,  from  his  account  of  himself,  that  his  mind  apprehended  and 
his  conscience  felt  the  truths  of  the  Bible,  while  he  was  outwardly 
defying  them.  As  early  as  his  tenth  year,  when  alone  in  the  fields, 
the  thought  of  eternal  punishment  for  sin  struck  him  with  such  force, 
that  he  was  constrained  to  pray,  and  form  resolutions  of  amendment. 
These  impressions  wore  off",  and  his  resolutions  were  forgotten.  He 
aspired  to  become  a  leader  in  vanity  and  gayety,  hoping  to  attain 
this  distinction  before  his  sixteenth  year. 

Better  things  were  designed  for  him.  At  the  age  of  thirteen,  a 
partial  change  was  effected  in  his  deportment  by  the  reading  of 


26-J:  WILLIAM    MILNE. 


nil' 


religious  books,  the  example  of  two  pious  persons  in  tLe  fum 
where  he  resided,  the  dread  of  death,  and  the  impressions  produced 
by  vivid  representations  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  in  sacramental 
addresses.  Though  he  had  very  inadequate  ideas  of  his  own  char- 
acter and  duty,  the  change  was  manifestly  for  the  better.  He  was 
led  to  the  practice  of  secret  prayer,  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  more  diligent  improvement  of  the  means  of  grace.  By  attend- 
ance at  a  Sabbath-school,  his  knowledge  of  evangelical  truth,  and 
his  conviction  of  its  importance,  were  increased.  He  began  family 
worship  in  his  mother's  household,  and  held  meetings  for  prayer 
with  his  sisters  and  other  children.  There  was  an  element  of  self- 
righteousness  in  all  this,  of  which  he  was  not  immediatelj'  conscious, 
but  he  was  not  permitted  to  be  long  in  darkness.  At  the  age  of 
sixteen,  the  time  he  had  fixed  for  the  consummation  of  his  aspiring 
folly,  he  was  providentially  removed  to  a  place  where  he  had  the 
privilege  of  conversing  with  pious  persons,  who  exerted  themselves 
to  direct  his  attention  more  intelligently  to  his  religious  interests. 

One  of  these  deserves  particular  mention,  as  the  chief  instrument 
of  his  conversion.  Adam  Sievwright  was  a  poor  basket-maker,  but 
had  a  wealth  of  spiritual  knowledge,  which  imparted  to  his  character 
and  to  his  humble  dwelling  a  more  than  earthly  dignity.  At  the 
hour  of  family  devotion  he  was  accustomed  to  make  some  remarks 
on  the  passage  of  Scripture  read,  to  prepare  his  children's  minds 
for  the  solemnity  of  prayer.  To  young  Milne,  who  was  sometimes 
present,  the  pious  cottager  uttered  seasonable  exhortations.  The 
beauty  and  excellence  of  religion,  as  exhibited  in  this  household, 
captivated  his  heart.  His  occupation  as  a  herdsman  gave  him  ample 
opportunity  to  read  while  in  the  field  tending  his  flocks.  One  of  his 
favourite  books  was  "The  Cloud  of  Witnesses,"  an  account  of  the 
persecution  of  the  Scottish  Covenanters.  "Often,"  he  says,  "have  I 
sat  on  the  brow  of  a  hill,  reading  the  lives  of  the  martyrs,  admiring 
their  patience  and  fortitude  in  suffering;  and  seeing  them  'overcome' 
their  enemies  by  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  and  by  the  'word  of  their 
testimony,'  I  longed  that  God  would,  some  time  or  other,  honour 
me  thus  to  confess  his  name,  and  bear  my  testimony  to  the  truth." 
From  these  dreams  he  was  shortly  awakened.  His  venerable  friend 
recommended  to  him  the  reading  of  Boston's  "Fourfold  State."* 

*  We  have  seen  in  the  life  of  Judson  the  same  work,  in  another  hemisphere,  the 
instrument  of  bringing  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  one  whom  God  had  selected 
as  "  a  chosen  vessel  to  bear  his  name  before  the  Gentiles." 


WILLIAM    MILNE.  265 

He  had  scarcely  begun  it,  before  Ins  real  cliaracter  and  condition 
were  revealed  to  liim,  and  he  was  filled  with  anxious  concern. 
Under  the  weight  of  these  feelings  he  prayed,  as  often  as  ten  orjijheu 
times  in  a  day,  attended  meetings  for  prayer,  and  sought  spiritual 
conversation.  A  clear  exhibition  of  the  gospel,  not  long  after,  in 
a  sermon  by  Eev.  Mr.  Cowie,  of  Huntley,  opened  to  his  view  the 
way  of  reconciliation,  and  he  earnestly  devoted  himself,  thenceforth 
and  for  ever,  to  the  service  of  God.  His  religious  growth  was  visibly 
rapid.  A  change  of  residence  brought  him  into  a  family  where 
religion  was  not  honoured,  but  he  "witnessed  a  good  confession." 
By  his  influence  family-worship  was  established,  and  he  had  reason 
to  hope  that  his  master  and  mistress  became  true  followers  of  Christ. 
A  person  who  visited  there  occasionally,  being  rebuked  by  him  for 
profaneness,  received  impressions  that  never  left  him  till  he  was  led 
to  embrace  and  profess  the  gospel. 

In  the  activity  with  which  the  young  shepherd-boy,  in  humble 
poverty,  but  with  the  simplicity  and  fervour  of  true  piety,  laboured 
for  the  salvation  of  others,  was  manifest  the  spirit  that  afterwards  led 
him  to  devote  his  life  to  missionary  service.  He  took  an  active  part 
in  Sabbath-school  instruction,  and,  to  qualify  himself  for  his  duties, 
cultivated  a  profoundly  devotional  spirit,  the  power  of  which  was 
felt  by  his  pupils  and  by  all  who  knew  him.  He  established  prayer- 
meetings  in  destitute  neighbourhoods,  and  went  from  house  to  house 
in  company  with  a  few  young  men  who  partook  of  his  spirit,  con- 
versing and  praying  with  the  poor.  He  was  habitually  about  his 
Master's  business,  and  was  thus  qualified,  when  the  way  was  provi- 
dentially opened  for  a  wider  and  more  commanding  sphere  of  use- 
fulness to  mankind. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  the  missionary  spirit 
had  less  influence  in  Scotland  than  in  England.  The  established 
church  lent  no  cordial  approbation  to  the  enterprise,  and  some  of 
the  Presbyterian  Seceders  were  prejudiced  against  it.  Young  Milne 
was  connected  with  a  congregation  of  the  body  known  as  the  Anti- 
burghers,  who  entertaiced  a  strong  aversion  to  the  London  Mission- 
ary Society.  Happily,  the  church  at  Huntley,  under  the  care  of  Mr. 
Cowie,  was  in  truth  what  it  was  called  by  way  of  reproach,  "a  mis- 
sionary church."  Its  members  were  scattered  among  many  parishes, 
through  which  they  diffused  the  spirit  cherished  by  their  pastor  at 
the  cost  of  his  influence  and  ultimately  of  his  denominational  stand- 
ing.    Milne  thus  became  familiar  Avith  what  was  doing  by  various 


266  WILLIiM    MJLNE. 

bodies  of  Cliristians  for  the  world's  conversion,  and,  as  niiglit  he 
expected,  felt  a  lively  interest  in  the  subject.  At  first,  the  idea  of 
engaging  personally  in  the  work  did  not  occur  to  him, — how  should 
it?  His  condition  in  life  authorized  no  sober  expectation,  however 
it  might  be  fitted  to  nourish  dreams,  of  such  high  achievement. 

About  the  twentieth  year  of  bis  age,  however,  he  was  one  day 
conversing  with  a  Christian  friend,  who  remarked  that  his  brother 
contemplated  engaging  in  missionary  service.  The  information 
awakened  in  his  breast  such  queries  as  these:  "Will  this  man's  sal- 
vation be  a  greater  wonder  than  mine?  Or  can  his  obligations  to 
the  riches  of  redeeming  grace  be  greater  than  mine,  that  he  should 
desire  thus  to  honour  God,  while  I  continue  satisfied  in  a  state  of 
inglorious  ease  at  home?"  The  questions  of  his  fitness  and  his  call  to 
the  work  caused  him  much  perplexity,  but  after  prayerful  delibera- 
tion and  consulting  with  judicious  friends,  he  offered  himself,  in  1808, 
to  the  London  Missionary  Society.  The  Directors  appointed  a  com- 
mittee of  ministers  at  Aberdeen  to  examine  him,  and  decide  on  his 
qualifications.  Having  laid  before  him  the  nature  of  the  missionary 
work,  with  such  detail  as  to  aid  him  in  forming  an  intelligent  deter- 
mination, they  gave  him  further  time  to  consider.  Their  first 
impression  was  that  he  ivould  not  do,  and  one  minister  proposed  to 
him  that  he  should  go  out  as  a  mechanic  rather  than  as  a  preachei'. 
To  this  Milne  promptly  replied,  "Anything,  anything, — if  only 
engaged  in  the  work.  I  am  willing  to  be  a  hewer  of  wood  or  a 
drawer  of  water,  in  the  temple  of  my  God."  They  decided  to 
accept  him,  and  he  was  sent  to  the  Missionary  Academy  at  Gosport, 
under  the  direction  of  Rev.  Dr.  Bogue. 

The  rules  he  drew  up  for  his  own  guidance  while  at  Gosport  indi- 
cate his  eminently  devout,  conscientious  and  diligent  spirit.  First 
assigning  ample  time  for  his  own  personal  improvement  by  study 
and  prayer,  then  setting  apart  seasons  for  religious  exercises  in 
behalf  of  his  friends,  not  forgetting  the  care  of  his  bodily  health,  he 
further  resolved  to  seek  opportunities  of  usefulness, — to  his  fellow- 
students  by  conversation,  to  families  in  the  neighbourhood  by  visits 
for  prayer  and  exhortation,  and  to  friends  at  a  distance  by  corres- 
pondence. There  is  evidence  that  these  resolutions  were  not  incon- 
sideratel}'  made,  in  the  first  flush  of  a  new  pursuit,  to  be  neglected 
when  the  novelty  of  his  situation  wore  off  In  truth,  the}-  were 
but  the  application  in  his  present  circumstances  of  principles 
which  had  guided  his  conduct  in  other  scenes, — the  same  princi- 


WILLIAM    MILNE.  267 

pics  which  directed  his  strenuous  labours  after  he  entered  on 
missionary  work. 

The  decision  and  energy  with  which  he  carried  his  plans  into 
effect  were  blended  with  humility  and  jealousy  of  self  In  a  letter 
to  his  mother,  he  says:  "I  have  been  sent  out  twice  to  preach.  1 
liope  you  ivill  not  spread  that  abroad,  unless  to  particular  friends  who 
will  'help  together  by  prayer  for  me.'  I  love  the  work  with  all  my 
heart,  but  I  feel  myself  unworthy  of  it  and  unfit  for  it."  The  con- 
cern he  manifested  lest  the  spirit  of  study  should  expel  the  spirit  of 
piety  may  also  be  noted.  "I  find — that  it  is  very  difficult  to  main- 
tain a  lively  sense  and  impression  of  the  truth  on  my  heart  in  the 
midst  of  study."  "I  find,  by  experience,  that  it  is  not  change  of 
place  nor  employment  that  increases  a  Christian's  spirituality  of 
mind;  but  fresh,  and  confirming,  and  sanctifying  discoveries  of  the 
greatness  and  glory  of  the  Truth."  "  Pray  for  me — that  I  may  have 
grace  to  think  for  God, — to  speak  for  God, — to  write  for  God, — to 
live  only  and  die  only  for  God.  May  this  be  your  portion  also!" 
But  his  piety  did  not,  as  we  have  seen,  expend  itself  in  contempla- 
tive devotion.  Among  other  labours  undertaken  by  him,  the  Eoss- 
shire  militia  being  stationed  at  Gosport,  as  he  found  among  them 
some  pious  persons,  he  set  them  to  form  a  congregation,  and  preached 
with  such  effect  that  Dr.  Bogue  was  privileged  to  welcome  fifteen  to 
a  public  profession  of  faith. 

While  thus  solicitous  for  his  moral  and  spiritual  improvement,  he 
pursued  his  studies  with  diligence,  and  made  very  rapid  progress  in 
the  learned  languages.  At  the  close  of  his  studies,  he  was  recom- 
mended by  Dr.  Bogue,  and  appointed  by  the  society  as  the  colleague 
of  Dr.  Morrison  in  the  China  mission.  So  greatly,  as  his  course  in 
that  responsible  station  more  abundantly  showed,  did  those  men 
misjudge  who  feared  that  he  "would  not  do"  for  ministerial  service. 
He  was  ordained  in  July,  1812,  and  sailed  in  September  of  the  same 
year.  He  was  married  in  the  interval  to  Miss  Rachel  CoAvie,  daughter 
of  Charles  Cowie,  Esq.,  of  Aberdeen,  a  lady  possessed  of  excellent 
sense  and  discrimination,  a  cultivated  mind,  earnest  piety,  and  devo- 
tion to  the  missionary  work.  They  reached  the  Cape  on  the  1st 
of  December.  During  the  pause  in  their  voyage,  they  took  the 
opportunity  to  visit  the  Moravian  mission,  and  Mr.  Milne  made 
some  inquiries  concerning  Madagascar,  with  a  view  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a  mission  there.  From  the  Cape  they  sailed  for  Mauritius. 
Being  unable  to  preach  much  on  board  ship,  Mr.  Milne  spent  his 


268  WILLIAM    MILNE. 

time  cliiefiy  in  studying  Chinese  from  an  elementary  work  hy  Dr. 
Marsliman,  of  the  Serampore  mission.  At  tlie  Mauritius  he  prose- 
cuted his  researches  with  reference  to  Madagascar,  and  drew  up  the 
original  plan  on  which  the  society  afterwards  founded  their  mission 
to  that  island.  During  the  remainder  of  the  voyage,  finding  himself 
unable  to  effect  much  in  the  unassisted  study  of  the  language,  he 
turned  his  attention  to  the  character  of  the  people,  and  it  is  the  tes- 
timony of  Dr.  Morrison  that  "few  have  made  such  rapid  progress 
in  a  comprehension  of  the  opinions  of  the  Chinese." 

On  arriving  off  Macao,  a  view  of  the  shores  of  China  led  him  to 
renew  his  appeals  to  his  friends  in  Scotland  on  behalf  of  the  mission. 
But  with  his  habitual  desire  for  immediate  usefulness,  he  made  it 
his  first  duty  to  write  a  fervent  farewell  letter  to  the  mate  of  the 
vessel,  a  young  man  for  whose  spiritual  welfare  he  had  felt  con- 
cerned, and  whom  he  could  not  leave  without  a  final  appeal  to  his 
conscience  and  heart.  Soon  after  landing,  he  found  that  his 
expected  association  with  Mr.  Morrison  would  not  be  permitted. 
The  Portuguese  governor  of  Macao,  in  his  zeal  for  the  Church  of 
Rome,  peremptorily  ordered  him  to  depart,  and  he  was  obliged  to 
go  to  Canton,  leaving  his  wife  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Morrison.  He 
was  permitted,  however,  to  visit  Macao  when  his  affairs  required  it, 
without  impediment  from  the  governor  or  the  people.  At  Canton 
he  pursued  tlie  study  of  the  language,  though  under  disadvantage, 
without  the  expected  aid  of  Mr.  Morrison,  yet  with  such  success 
that  in  three  months  he  was  able  to  speak  and  write  it  a  little.  He 
also  preached  on  Sundays  to  a  few  English  and  Americans,  "the 
first  English  preaching,  I  suppose,"  he  remarks,  "that  was  ever 
at  Canton." 

At  the  close  of  the  year  1813,  Mr.  Morrison  having  completed  a 
version  of  the  New-Testament  in  Chinese,  and  several  tracts,  it  was 
resolved  to  print  an  edition  of  the  former,  a  catechism  and  a  tract, 
and  to  despatch  Mr.  Milne  on  a  voyage  to  the  principal  Chinese 
settlements  in  the  Malay  Archipelago,  to  circulate  these  works;  to 
procure  such  information  as  to  the  Chinese  population  of  these  colo- 
nies as  would  aid  in  directing  efforts  to  introduce  Christianity  among 
them;  to  inquire  what  facilities  existed  in  Java  and  Pinang  for 
printing  in  Chinese;  and  to  seek  out  a  secure  retreat  where  the 
chief-seat  of  the  China  mission  could  be  fixed,  so  as  to  place  its 
most  important  operations  beyond  the  interference  of  a  hostile  gov- 


WILLIAM    MILNE.  269 

ernment.  The  enterprise  was  an  embarrassing  one  to  liim,  for  he 
had  spent  not  more  than  six  months  in  the  study  of  the  language, 
and  could  only  speak  it  imperfectly.  He  committed  to  memory  a 
volume  of  dialogues  in  Chinese  and  English,  prepared  by  Mr.  Mor- 
rison, which  he  found  of  great  benefit.  With  this  imperfect  prepara- 
tion, and  a  teacher  who  knew  nothing  of  English,  he  set  sail  in  a 
vessel  bound  to  Java.  There  were  four  hundred  and  fifty  Chinese 
emigrants  on  board,  among  whom  twenty -five  copies  of  the  New- 
Testament  and  some  tracts  were  distributed.  At  Banca,  where  many 
Chinese  were  employed  in  the  tin  mines,  some  tracts  and  Testaments 
were  circulated,  and  others  left  with  the  British  Eesident  for  distri- 
bution. On  arriving  at  Batavia,  he  was  received  with  great  kindness 
by  the  governor,  Sir  Stamford  Raffles,  and  other  gentlemen.  Gov- 
ernor Raffles  furnished  him  with  the  means  of  travelling  at  the 
expense  of  the  government  through  the  interior  and  eastern  part  of 
the  island,  and  gave  him  letters  to  the  principal  British  officers  and 
native  princes  in  the  settlements  through  which  he  would  pass. 
Boxes  of  books  were  sent  round  by  sea  to  the  chief  eastern  ports, 
and  a  quantity  taken  in  his  carriage  for  distribution  in  the  small 
Chinese  settlements  in  his  way.  He  visited  the  principal  towns 
where  most  of  the  Chinese  reside,  and  passed  over  to  the  adjoining 
island  of  Madura,  where  there  were  several  of  their  settlements. 
Leaving  Java,  he  proceeded  to  Malacca,  where  he  remained  a  week. 
He  took  pains  to  put  the  books  he  brought  with  him  in  a  train  for 
thorough  circulation,  and  had  printed  at  Java  and  Malacca  eighteen 
hundred  copies  of  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis,  three  hundred 
copies  of  a  tract  and  one  thousand  of  a  handbill,  besides  a  farewell 
address  of  his  own  composition.  He  likewise  forwarded  some  Tes- 
taments and  tracts  to  Pinang  and  other  islands,  which  he  was  unable 
to  visit.  It  was  not  supposed  that  any  immediate  effect  would  be 
produced  by  this  distribution  of  books,  but  if  only  a  few  were 
enlightened  by  their  perusal,  it  was  thought  that  the  labour  would 
be  repaid.  Having  accomplished  the  main  purposes  of  his  visit,  he 
returned  to  China,  where  he  arrived  on  the  5th  of  September,  ISl-i, 
with  some  reason  to  hope  that  his  being  prohibited  from  remaining 
at  Macao  would,  contrary  to  its  intended  effect,  "  turn  out  for  the 
furtherance  of  the  gospel." 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  following  winter  Mr.  Milne  remained 
at  Canton,  pursuing  the  study  of  the  language.  He  likewise  com- 
posed a  treatise  on  the  Life  of  Christ,  which  was  printed  in  February, 


270  WILLIAM    MILNE. 

1815,  and  widely  dispersed.  He  speaks  of  the  style  as  inferior,  bat 
lie  was  gratified  to  find  that  it  was  understood  by  the  lower  classes, 
and  read  with  interest. 

As  it  was  impossible  for  hina  to  remain  at  Macao  for  any  length 
of  time,  and  it  was  uncertain  how  long  his  colleague  would  be  toler- 
ated there, — considering,  also,  the  difficulty  of  carrying  forward  the 
printing  and  other  important  departments  of  labour  in  security, — it 
appeared  necessary  to  fix  on  a  new  station.  Malacca  was  selected, 
as  a  favourable  point  for  communicating  both  with  Canton  and  with 
the  most  important  places  in  the  Chinese  Archipelago,  and  as  a  cen- 
tral station  from  which  to  plan  and  execute  missionary  enterprises 
in  all  the  region  lying  between  Bengal  and  tho  China  Sea.  The 
authorities  there  were  well  disposed  toward  the  mission,  and  though 
the  station  must  be  established  on  a  small  scale,  and  advance  very 
gradually,  it  w^as  determined  to  occupy  it  at  once.  Mr.  Milne  accord- 
ingly made  immediate  arrangements  to  remove  thither.  The  plan 
on  which  the  station  was  projected  was  large  and  comprehensive. 
It  was  resolved  to  establish  a  Chinese  free  school,  with  the  ultimate 
purpose  of  founding  a  higher  seminary  to  train  pious  natives  for  the 
•Christian  ministry;  to  issue  a  Chinese  periodical,  combining  the  dif- 
fusion of  general  knowledge  with  that  of  Christianity;  to  commence 
the  printing  of  the  Scriptures  and  other  religious  books,  with  such 
publications  in  English  as  might  tend  to  aid  the  progress  of  the 
missions.  Though  the  design  had  primary  reference  to  the  Chinese, 
it  was  not  limited  to  them,  but  provision  was  made  for  the  Malays 
and  other  tribes  inhabiting  the  extensive  region  commanded  from 
the  station.  , 

To  part  from  their  friends  at  Canton  was  painful  to  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Milne,  but  the  call  of  duty  was  imperative.  Taking  with  them  a 
supply  of  Chinese  books,  printing  paper,  a  teacher  and  several 
workmen,  they  embarked  on  the  17th  of  April,  1815.  The  voyage, 
of  thirty-five  days'  duration,  was  to  Mrs.  Milne  a  season  of  great 
distress  and  peril,  but  her  life  and  the  lives  of  her  infant  children 
were  mercifully  spared.  They  were  very  cordially  received  by 
Major  Farquhar,  the  British  Resident;  and  the  Protestant  Dutch 
church,  having  lost  their  minister  by  death,  invited  Mr.  Milne  to 
assume  the  pastoral  care  over  them.  But  believing  himself  s^Decially 
sent  to  the  heathen,  he  felt  bound  to  decline  acceding  to  their  request. 
He  promised  to  render  them  all  the  aid  possible  till  they  should 


WILLIAM    MILNE.  271 

obtain  a  pastor,  and  to  this  end  commenced  a  stated  service  on  the 
Sabbath.  This  labour  was  less  satisfactory  to  himself  and  less 
useful  to  the  congregation,  from  their  very  partial  acquaintance 
with  the  English  language.  Still,  the  influence  of  the  truth,  visible 
occasionally  in  an  individual  case,  encouraged  him ;  and  as  the 
people  failed  to  secure  a  pastor,  the  service  was  continued.  The 
government  paid  him  a  small  salary,  which  for  two  years  was 
sufficient  for  his  support. 

The  first  object  attempted  by  Mr.  Milne  was  the  founding  of  a 
free  school.  A  Chinese  teacher  was  employed  for  a  small  stipend, 
with  the  promise  of  an  increased  salary,  graduated  by  the  number 
of  scholars  secured,  thus  inducing  him  to  labour  for  the  school,  in 
the  absence  of  higher  motives,  from  self-interest.  A  small  house 
was  fitted  up  with  seats,  and  notices  were  posted  in  different  parts 
of  the  town,  announcing  a  school  for  poor  children.  The  people  had 
never  heard  of  such  a  thing,  and  distrusted  the  scheme.  Their 
supreme  selfishness  made  them  for  twelve  months  incredulous. 
They  believed  that  pay  was  expected,  and  would  be  finally  demanded. 
But  the  teacher,  for  obvious  reasons,  was  active  in  canvassing  for 
pupils,  to  fill  the  school-house  and  replenish  his  purse,  and  fifteen 
were  gradually  collected.  He  was  unwilling  to  commence  on  any 
other  than  a  "lucky  day," — a  superstition  that  universally  enslaves 
the  Chinese, — or  without  giving  the  children  each  a  "kae  sinping," 
a  cake  supposed  to  have  a  magical  power  to  expand  their  minds. 
Unwilling  to  risk  the  existence  of  the  school  by  running  counter  to 
their  heathen  prejudices  upon  the  threshold  of  his  undertaking,  Mr. 
Milne  thought  it  best  to  let  him  have  his  own  way,  and  to  take  a 
future  occasion  to  show  its  folly, — a  complaisance  which  it  is  not  eas}' 
to  justify,  however  we  may  sympathize  with  the  motive  that  prompted 
it.  A  request  to  permit  the  setting  up  of  the  images  of  Confucius, 
and  "VVau-chang  (the  god  of  letters),  and  the  burning  of  incense 
before  them,  though  equally  important  in  the  estimation  of  tlie  ped- 
agogue, was  of  course  inadmissible.  It  was  evaded,  on  the  ground 
that  the  house  stood  on  land  belonging  not  to  a  Chinaman,  but  to  a 
foreigner. 

These  obstacles  having  been  surmounted,  the  school  began  with 
five  scholars,  gradually  increased  to  fifteen.  They  were  taught 
reading,  writing  and  arithmetic.  With  some  difficulty  the  master 
was  icduced  to  teach  them  a  catechism,  at  first  on  Sundays,  and 
subsequently  at  intervals  on  other  days.     As  Chinese  youth  usually 


272  WILLIAM    MILNE. 

commit  to  memory  everything  they  learn  at  school,  they  read- 
ily got  the  catechism  by  heart.  Cautiously  and  by  degrees  its 
meaning  was  explained  to  them,  and  thus  a  regular  catechetical 
exercise  was  introduced  on  Sabbath  afternoons.  To  avoid  offence, 
other  exercises  were  combined  with  it,  as  teaching  the  common 
forms  of  salutation, — of  parents,  teachers  and  superiors.  This 
pleased  the  parents,  as  these  accomplishments  had  not  been  taught 
in  their  own  schools. 

"Worship  in  Chinese  had  already  been  conducted  with  some 
domestics  brought  from  China.  The  schoolmaster,  seeing  them 
attend,  was  induced  to  follow  their  example,  and  the  children  came 
with  them.  Thus  a  small  company  were  brought  under  the  influ- 
ence of  religious  instruction  and  worship.  Doubtless  they  imper- 
fectly comprehended  the  nature  of  either,  but  this  instrumentality, 
however  humble,  included  the  most  important  means  of  grace,  and, 
though  aware  that  much  time  might  elapse  before  any  sensible 
effect  was  produced,  it  was  a  promising  beginning,  and  Mr.  Milne 
rejoiced  in  it.  The  liberality  of  two  gentlemen  in  Bengal  defrayed 
the  expenses  of  the  school  for  two  years. 

The  next  thing  in  order,  was  to  set  the  press  in  motion,  that  read- 
ing Chinese,  who  could  not  be  easily  reached  by  personal  instruc- 
tion, might  have  the  truth  brought  under  their  notice.  The  Chinese 
"  Monthly  Magazine, "  devoted  primarily  to  the  promotion  of  Chris- 
tianity, but  designed  to  include  information  and  discussions  on  such 
general  subjects  as  would  give  variety  to  the  work,  and  tend  to 
arouse  and  improve  the  mind,  was  established,  and  the  first  number 
appeared  on  the  fifth  of  August,  1815.  It  was  not  found  practi- 
cable to  publish  as  much  on  miscellaneous  subjects  as  was  originally 
intended,  and  the  magazine  was  in  a  great  degree  limited  in  its 
scope  to  religious  and  moral  subjects.  A  few  essays  on  astronomy 
and  history,  notices  of  the  most  important  events,  and  instructive 
anecdotes,  were  introduced.  Anecdotes,  proverbs,  and  the  like, 
were  favourite  vehicles  of  instruction  with  Mr.  Milne,  and  he 
embraced  frequent  opportunities  to  put  them  into  circulation.  The 
work  was  not  larger  than  a  small  tract,  and  was  distributed  gratis. 
It  was  circulated  by  travellers  and  others  through  all  the  Chinese 
colonies;  also,  in  Siam,  Cochin-China,  and  some  parts  of  China  itself. 
In  this  way,  five  hundred  copies  monthly  were  disposed  of,  and  in 
four  3'ears  the  edition  was  doubled.  An  imperfect  acquaintance 
with  the  language,  and  defective  printing  apparatus,  gave  to  the 


WILLIAM     MILNE.  273 

earlier  issues  a  certain  rudeness,  both  of  style  and  tj'pography, 
which  continued  study  and  enlarged  means  enabled  the  editor  to 
improve,  but  they  were  intelligible  to  persons  in  the  habit  of  read- 
ing, and  it  was  believed  they  were  not  without  a  measure  of  utility. 

These  means  were  properly  regarded  by  Mr.  Milne  as  but 
auxiliary  to  what  constitutes  the  most  important  work  of  a  Chris- 
tian missionary, — preaching,  or  the  oral  communication  of  the 
truth.  He  was  so  situated,  however,  that  though  he  desired  this 
privilege,  it  was  impossible  to  secure  it  to  any  great  extent.  The 
necessity  of  prosecuting  the  study  of  a  language  the  most  difficult 
in  the  world,  and  the  absorption  of  his  mind  in  the  work  of  trans- 
lating the  Scriptures,  without  which  the  natives  could  not  be  "built 
up  "  in  the  faith,  even  if  they  embraced  it,  together  with  his  other 
occupations  that  weighed  heavily  on  his  mind,  gave  scanty  oppor- 
tunity for  more  direct  evangelical  labour.  But  what  he  could,  he 
did.  Every  morning  the  Chinese  workmen,  domestics  and  pupils, 
met  for  worship,  when  a  portion  of  the  New-Testament  was  read 
and  expounded.  On  Sundays,  this  service  was  held  at  noon,  and 
was  longer,  something  more  nearly  approaching  the  character  of  a 
regular  sermon  being  added.  The  catechetical  exercise  with  the 
children  followed,  and  an  hour  was  commonly  spent  about  town, 
distributing  tracts  and  conversing  with  the  people.  At  eight  o'clock, 
evening  service  was  attended.  Few  were  present, — sometimes  two 
or  three,  sometimes  more,  drawn  in  through  curiosity,  or  the  hope 
of  gaining  employment.  The  regular  hearers  did  not  exceed  eight; 
the  others,  as  soon  as  their  curiosit}^  was  satisfied,  or  their  expecta- 
tion of  gain  disappointed,  came  but  seldom.  Opportunities  of  con- 
versing with  the  heathen,  and  explaining  to  them  the  principles  of 
Christianity,  oSered  themselves  occasionally.  Sailors  and  passen- 
gers in  Chinese  junks  from  Siam,  Java,  and  other  places,  called  to 
get  tracts,  and  were  visited  on  board  their  vessels.  Mr.  Milne  also 
visited  the  people  in  their  bouses  and  shops,  reading  to  small  groups 
a  tract,  or  verses  from  the  New-Testament,  with  short  explanations. 
The  circulation  of  Scriptures  and  tracts  was  effected,  not  only  in 
the  settlement,  but  by  passengers  of  native  vessels,  in  China  and 
all  her  colonies.  By  these  mute  messengers,  that  could  travel  with- 
out danger  from  persecution  or  disease,  the  good  seed  was  widely 
scattered,  in  the  trust  that  it  should  be  found  after  many  days. 

Serious  difficulties  impeded  these  labours.  The  variety  of  dia- 
lects spoken  by  the  people,  was  a  hindrance  to  the  correct  under- 
18 


274  WILLIAM    MILNE. 

standing  of  the  truth  by  those  whom  he  addressed.  The  Fohirien, 
the  dialect  of  the  majority,  he  had  no  means  of  learning;  that  of 
Canton,  used  by  a  considerable  number,  he  spoke  imperfectly;  and 
the  Mandarin,  or  court  language,  with  which  he  was  most  familiar, 
was  understood  by  few.  The  written  language,  being  everywhere 
the  same,  gave  the  press  a  decided  advantage.  In  China,  an 
acquaintance  with  one  dialect  will  give  the  missionary  access  to 
hundreds  of  thousands;  but  in  the  colonies  it  is  necessary  to  know 
two  or  three,  in  order  to  preach  successfully.  The  literary  labour 
and  numerous  cares  imposed  on  Mr.  Milne,  prevented  him  from 
doing  this,  except  to  a  very  limited  extent,  and  it  was  not  till  1818 
that  he  had  a  colleague  able  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  Fohkien 
dialect.  The  difficulty  of  the  language  was  aggravated  by  the 
inter-marriages  of  the  Chinese  with  Malay  women.  No  females 
ever  leave  China.  The  men,  therefore,  marry  natives  of  the  coun- 
tries where  they  settle.  Their  children  naturally  first  learn  the 
language  of  their  mothers,  and  many  of  them  are  scarcely  able  to 
understand  Chinese  at  all.  Here  they  commonly  spoke  in  Malay, 
and  read  exclusively  in  Chinese,  but  their  reading  was  often  so 
limited  as  to  be  of  little  use  to  them.  It  is  easier  to  describe  than 
to  conceive  the  impediments  to  missionary  labour,  arising  from 
these  causes. 

Had  it  been  possible  to  overcome  these  obstacles,  there  would 
still  have  remained  the  problem — how  to  get  a  congregation?  The 
Sabbath  was  of  course  not  observed,  and  it  was  no  easy  task  to 
induce  men  to  quit  their  business  for  the  sake  of  hearing  about  a 
foreign  religion.  The  Chinese  spend  their  days  in  hard  labour,  and 
their  nights  to  a  great  extent  in  gambling.  Scarcely  ten  persons 
could  be  got  together,  and  as  the  chances  were  that  these  came 
only  because  they  were  idle,  they  were  not  the  most  promising  of 
hearers.  It  was  hard  to  fix  their  attention.  Some  talked  and 
laughed,  some  smoked  their  pipes,  and  others  were  continually 
passing  in  and  out.  As  they  show  no  more  reverence  in  the  tem- 
ples of  their  own  gods,  there  was  nothing  surprising  in  their  conduct. 
Those  who  attended  regularl3'',.soon  became  very  decorous  and  atten- 
tive, but  this  could  not  be  expected  at  first.  To  these  untoward 
circumstances  must  be  added  the  pride,  falsehood,  and  singularly 
compounded  superstition  and  skepticism  of  the  Chinese  charac- 
ter, enough  of  itself  to  damp  the  ardour  of  missionary  labour, 
unless  sustained  bv  an  uncommon  measure  of  faith. 


WILLIAM    MILNE.  27o 

In  September,  1815,  the  Eev.  C.  H.  Thomsen  arrived  at  Malacca, 
to  commence  a  mission  among  tlie  Malays.  These  are  Mohammed- 
ans, and  are  peculiarly  inaccessible,  not  only  from  the  characteristic 
bigotry  of  all  Mussulmans,  but  from  their  notion  of  the  sacredness 
of  the  Arabic  language.  They  neglected  their  own  language,  as 
unfit  for  religious  uses,  while  not  one  in  a  hundred  could  compre- 
hend preaching' or  reading  in  Arabic.  Mr.  Thomsen  commenced 
the  study  of  Malay,  made  preparations  to  open  a  school,  and  pro- 
jected a  new  version  of  the  New-Testament,  to  supersede  a  defect- 
ive version  then  in  use.  About  this  time,  a  mission  library  was 
founded,  which  was  destined  to  become  of  great  value.  Its  begin- 
ning was  humble, — ten  small  volumes  of  European  books  and  a  few 
in  Chinese.  The  following  year,  a  lot  of  land  was  procured,  for  the 
more  permanent  establishment  of  the  mission,  and  a  Malay  and 
English  school  commenced ;  but  the  illness  of  Mrs.  Thomsen  com- 
pelled her  husband  to  accompany  her  on  a  voyage  to  Java.  The 
Malay  branch  of  the  mission  was  suspended  by  this  event-for  fifteen 
months,  during  which  time,  Mrs.  T.  was  released  from  her  suffer- 
ings, by  a  triumphant  departure  into  her  heavenly  rest,  and  her 
bereaved  husband  returned  to  his  post  in  December,  1817.  The 
Chinese  school,  which  was  taught  in  the  Fohkign  dialect,  had  by 
this  time  increased  to  about  fifty-seven  pupils,  and  another  was 
opened  in  the  Canton  dialect,  numbering  twenty-three  pupils.  The 
want  of  a  convenient  manual  of  religious  instruction,  led  Mr.  Milne 
to  compose  "The  Youth's  Catechism,"  which  was  published  in  1816. 
Tt  was  composed  in  circumstances  of  personal  affliction,  and  with  an 
impression,  happily  not  verified,  that  it  might  be  his  last  service. 
Two  new  tracts  were  composed  and  printed,  and  a  translation  of 
the  book  of  Deuteronomy  was  completed  in  July  of  that  year. 

Up  to  this  time  the  labours  of  the  mission  had  been  prosecuted 
with  reference  to  future  and  perhaps  distant  effects,  toils  such  as  the 
beginnings  of  the  enterprise  naturally  demanded,  but  which  are 
fitted  to  try  faith  and  patience.  It  is  not  easy  to  struggle  year  after 
year,  waiting  for  fruit  hereafter.  But  in  this  year  Mr.  Milne  received 
into  the  communion  of  the  visible  church  a  Chinese  convert,  a  printer 
for  the  mission,  named  Leang-kung-fa.  He  had  never  been  much 
given  to  idolatry,  but  lived  in  a  state  of  indifference  to  all  religion. 
He  now  professed  a  desire  to  follow  Christ,  and  after  much  instruc- 
tion made  }>rofession  of  his  faith  November  3d.  His  demeanour 
was  not  very  promising  at  first,  but  he  proved  an  efficient  Christian, 


276  WILLIAM    MILNE. 

After  spending  four  years  at  Malacca  he  returned  to  Cliina,  where 
he  composed  and  began  the  printing  of  a  tract,  for  which  he  was 
imprisoned  and  beaten.  His  stripes  did  but  make  him  the  more 
self-denying  in  his  efforts  for  the  salvation  of  his  countrjnnen,  and 
he  shortly  had  the  joy  to  witness  the  conversion  of  his  ^Yife.  He 
subsequently  studied  under  Dr.  Morrison,  by  whom  he  was  ordained 
to  the  ministry,  and  became  eminently  useful,  indefatigable  in  prop- 
agating the  gospel,  and  the  instrument  of  bringing  a  number  of  his 
friends  to  receive  the  word  of  life. 

A  printing-press  was  set  np  in  the  autumn  of  1816,  with  the  view 
of  doing  something  in  the  Malay,  but  the  absence  of  Mr.  Thomsen 
and  the  cares  that  unduly  pressed  on  Mr.  Milne  prevented  this.  The 
workmen  could  not  be  dismissed  without  a  breach  of  faith,  and  they 
were  employed  on  two  works  in  English  for  circulation  among  Eu- 
ropean residents  in  India, — Bogue's  "Essay  on  the  New-Testament." 
and  Doddrige's  "Rise  and  Progress."  Some  copies  were  subscribed 
for,  som6  purchased  for  distribution  by  a  benevolent  gentleman, 
others  placed  on  sale  in  different  parts  of  India,  and  the  balance 
sent  to  different  missionary  stations  for  gratuitous  circulation.  The 
publication  of  a  periodical  in  English,  to  disseminate  information 
relative  to  the  Indo-Chinese  nations  and  the  progress  of  Christianity, 
which  had  been  contemplated  from  the  first,  was  commenced  in  May, 
1817.  It  was  entitled  the  "Indo-Chinese  Gleaner,"  and  was  issued 
quarterly. 

Mrs.  Milne  having  been  attacked  with  an  alarming  illness,  was 
obliged  on  becoming  convalescent  to  make  a  voyage  to  China  for 
the  reestablishment  of  her  health.  Her  husband,  having  no  assistant 
in  the  mission,  could  not  accompany  her,  but  the  subsequent  arrival 
of  Eev.  W.  H.  Medhurst,  whose  name  has  since  become  familiarly 
associated  with  the  mission  in  China,  enabled  him  to  escape  for  a 
season  from  his  overwhelming  toils,  and  he  followed  his  wife  to 
Macao.  Previous  to  his  departure  he  had  finished  the  translation 
of  the  Book  of  Joshua,  and  while  there  translated  Judges,  as  also  an 
exposition  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  a  tract  on  the  folly  of  idolatry. 
He  returned  with  his  wife  to  Malacca,  their  health  much  improved, 
in  the  following  February.  There  they  found  Mr.  Thomsen  once 
more  at  his  post,  and  were  also  cheered  by  the  presence  of  Rev.  J. 
and  Mrs.  Slater,  who  had  been  sent  out  further  to  reinforce  the 
mission, followed  by  Messrs.  Milton,  Beighton,  and  Ince,  who  arrived 
in  September. 


WILLIAM     MILNE.  277 

In  November  was  kid  the  foundation  of  the  Anglo-Chinese  College. 
It  was  organized  with  a  view  to  give  instruction  to  Europeans  in  the 
Chinese  language,  and  to  natives  in  English,  for  which  purpose  an 
ample  library,  competent  English  professors  and  Chinese  tutors 
were  to  be  provided.  The  ediiice  was  completed  and  the  institution 
opened  in  the  autumn  of  1820.  During  1818  Mr.  Alilne  compleied 
the  translation  of  both  books  of  Samuel  and  the  two  books  of  Kings, 
and  prepared  three  new  Chinese  tracts. 

He  was  soon  after  summoned  to  part  with  Mrs.  Milne,  who  died 
March  20, 1819.  It  was  a  severe  blow,  for  he  had  found  her  a  "  help  " 
especially  "meet"  for  him,  her  fine  mental  endowments  and  amiable 
temper  having  been  crowned  by  a  consistent  and  scriptural  piety. 
Her  sympathy  in  all  his  pursuits,  from  their  first  designation  to  the 
missionary  work,  had  lightened  his  burdens  and  strengthened  his 
hands,  and  he  commemorated  her  worth  in  the  most  touching  expres- 
sions of  grief,  subdued  by  the  consolations  of  his  assured  faith. 

From  this  time  Dr.  Milne  continued  indefatigable  in  his  labours 
of  preaching,  translation,  and  the  general  supervision  of  the  station, 
with  little  to  diversify  the  course  of  his  life,  to  the  end,  which  was 
nearer  than  any  thought,  though  vigilant  friendship  had  found  cause 
for  concern.  Neither  increasing  infirmities,  nor  a  series  of  calumnious 
attacks  that  about  this  time  found  their  way  into  several  publications, 
slackened  his  efforts  or  tamed  his  steadfast  zeal.  The  Directors  of 
the  Missionary  Society  authorized  him  to  undertake  a  voyage  for  the 
invigoration  and  prolonging  of  a  life  so  valuable,  but  a  temporary 
renewal  of  strength  induced  him  to  decline  it.  Early  in  the  year 
1822,  it  having  become  apparent  that  he  could  not  bear  the  severe 
draft  upon  his  physical  resources,  he  sailed  to  Singapore  for  rest, 
and,  if  possible,  restoration.  Obtaining  no  sensible  relief,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Pinang.  A  few  days'  experience  showed  that  no  amend- 
ment could  be  expected  there,  and  he  returned  to  Malacca  with  the 
intention  of  trying  a  voyage  to  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  But  it  was 
too  late.  He  had  exhausted  himself,  and  had  only  time  to  reach  the 
scene  of  his  toils,  and  to  die.  He  landed  at  Malacca  on  the  2-lth  of 
May  in  a  state  of  extreme  weakness,  and  entered  into  rest  on  the 
2d  of  June.  A  conviction  that  he  was  near  his  end  had  gained 
strength  during  his  last  voyage.  On  one  occasion  he  pra3^ed.  "() 
God,  prepare  me  for  life  or  death!"  adding  with  emphasis,  "but 
death, — death!  that  is  the  thing!"     During  his  last  hours  his  mind 


278  WILLIAM     MILNE. 

was  peaceful,  but  without  tlie  transpoi't  wliicli  sometimes  animates 
the  dying.  He  repeatedly  said  that  "lie  had  no  hope  of  salvation 
but  through  the  merits  of  Jesus."  "The  closing  scene  of  this  good 
man's  life,"  says  Dr.  Morrison,  "was  peace,  but  not  joy.  Those  who 
have  comparatively  much  knowledge,  understand  best  how  ignorant 
the  wisest  men  are,  and  those  who  have  thought  most  on  the  awful 
realities  of  eternity,  are  likely  to  meet  death  with  the  greatest  awe. 
It  is  a  serious  thing  to  die.  To  stand  before  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ  is  an  awful  anticipation.  And,  as  it  is  not  everv  good  ship 
that  enters  its  final  haven  with  a  fair  wind  and  under  full  sail,  so  it 
is  not  given  to  every  good  man  to  have  a  joyful  entrance  into  the 
spiritual  world.  In  that  haven  there  is  indeed  eternal  rest;  but 
clouds  and  tempests  are  below,  and  sometimes  gloom  at  the  entrance. 
Of  the  good  man,  the  last  end  shall  assuredly  be  peace,  but  that 
peace  may  not  be  felt  till  he  has  passed  the  bourne." 

The  career  of  Milne  was  comparatively  short,  and  it  had  nothing 
in  its  outward  circumstances  to  dazzle  the  imagination,  even  had  he 
at  all  thirsted  for  admiration.  Doubtless  it  was  an}'"  thing  but  the 
fulfilment  of  those  youthful  dreams  that  enchanted  his  fancy  while 
tending  his  flocks.  It  called  into  exercise  the  truest  benevolence, 
the  most  unwavering  industry  and  patience,  with  the  utmost  breadth 
of  understanding  and  soundness  of  judgment.  His  conscientious 
diligence,  sober  wisdom,  and  purity  of  purpose,  fitted  him  at  once  to 
assume  grave  responsibilities  when  labouring  alone,  and  to  cooperate 
fraternally  with  others.  His  temper  was  ardent,  and  his  standard  of 
effort  exacting;  but  as  he  asked  nothing  of  his  brethren  which  he 
was  not  more  than  ready  to  do  himself,  his  relations  to  them  partook 
equally  of  the  commanding  and  the  winning.  His  discretion  was 
not  at  fault  when  he  was  compelled  to  rely  upon  it;  his  readiness 
to  receive,  as  well  as  to  impart  counsel,  made  him  invaluable  as  an 
associate.  No  better  testimony  could  be  given  to  the  excellence  of 
his  character  than  was  afforded  by  the  affectionate  confidence  with 
which  his  colleagues  regarded  him  while  living,  and  the  sorrow 
they  manifested  at  his  early  death.  His  chief  services  to  the  mission 
were  in  the  department  of  translation.  He  shares  with  Morrison  the 
honour  of  giving  the  entire  Bible  to  China.  The  educational  and 
general  operations  of  the  mission  to  Malacca  had  less  permanence 
than  was  hoped,  not  from  any  want  of  adaptation  to  the  ends  sought, 
but  through  the  great  providential  change  that  has  since  opened 


WILLIAM    MILNE.  279 

China  to  direct  missionary  effort,  and  transferred  to  tliat  empire  the 
strength  that  had  been  gained  in  the  colonies. 

It  is  to  the  praise  of  Milne  that  his  moral  discrimination  was  not 
warped  by  contemporary  opinion.  The  opium-trade,  which  has 
fixed  an  enduring  stain  on  the  history  of  British  relations  with  China, 
was  denounced  by  him  as  early  as  1820,  when  he  stood  alone  in  its 
condemnation.  He  saw,  what  is  now  manifest  to  all,  how  fearful  an 
obstacle  it  is  to  the  progress  of  Christianity,  and  what  sure  destruc- 
tion it  is  working  among  the  millions  of  China.  It  sadly  darkened 
in  his  view  the  prospects  of  the  enterprise  on  which  his  life  was 
staked,  and  from  his  grave  comes  a  perpetual  protest  against  one 
of  the  most  appalling  crimes  that  stains  the  British  name. 


WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE. 


Walter  Macon  Lowrie,  the  third  son  of  Walter  and  Amelia 
Lowrie,  was  born  in  Butler,  Penn.,  on  the  18th  of  February,  1819. 
His  early  years  were  principally  spent  under  the  care  of  an  excel- 
lent and  faithful  mother.  He  was  naturally  cheerful,  frank,  kind, 
and  obedient;  and  a  general  favourite  among  his  playmates.  At 
an  early  age,  he  manifested  those  powers  of  mind  which  shine  so 
conspicuously  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  He  passed  with  credit 
through  all  the  preparatory  stages  of  his  education,  and  entered 
Jefferson  College  in  October,  1833.  Like  so  many  other  of  the 
most  eminent  servants  of  God,  he  was  the  fruit  of  a  college  revival. 
During  the  second  year  of  his  course,  Jefferson  College  'and  its 
vicinity  were  blessed  with  a  powerful  revival  of  religion.  Many  of 
the  students  were  brought  to  Christ — some  of  whom  have  since 
devoted  themselves  to  the  work  of  the  ministry.  Among  these 
was  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  and  the  lamented  Lloyd,  who  has 
also  gone,  with  his  bosom-friend,  to  rest  in  the  favour  of  God.  Mr. 
Lowrie  frequently  refers  to  the  29th  of  December,  1834,  as  the 
memorable  day  when  he  was  brought  to  Christ,  and  received  him 
as  his  Saviour.  His  conversion  was  not  marked  by  any  violent 
emotion  or  change.  Neither  his  sorrow  nor  his  joy  were  such  as 
many  experience,  in  the  time  of  their  passing  from  death  to  life. 
Still  he  could  say  from  the  first,  "Though  I  as  yet  see  little  ot 
Christ  and  his  exceeding  love  to  me,  in  my  lost  and  ruined  condi- 
tion, yet,  what  little  I  do  see,  fills  me  with  love  and  peace,  and  an 
earnest  desire  to  see  more  and  more  of  him^  and  to  lay  myself  down 
and  give  up  my  soul  at  the  foot  of  his  cross."  His  early  training 
had  been  religious,  and  as  in  most  such  cases,  the  light  seemed  to 
break  upon  him  graduallj^,  but  it  was  increasing  more  and  more 
unto  the  perfect  day.  He  was  sometimes  tried  with  doubts  and 
fears;  yet  in  the  main,  his  piety  was  trustful  and  cheerful,  and  he 
has  left  us  this  record,  "that  after  applying  every  test  in  my  power. 


282  WALTER     MACON    LOWRIE. 

to  examine  tlie  sincerity  of  mj  heart,  I  am  enabled  to  say,  tliouirh 
still  with  fear  and  trembling,  that  Jesus  is  mine  and  I  am  his." 

From  the  first,  his  views  of  Christ  and  the  gospel  were  singularly 
clear  and  scriptural.  He  felt  deeply  the  hardness  and  sinfulness 
of  his  heart;  his  inability  to  save  himself;  and  he  came  cordially 
to  Christ  for  salvation.  He  knew  that  his  only  hope  was  in  Christ, 
in  his  perfect  righteousness  and  atoning  blood;  and  accordingly 
Christ  became  at  once  the  object  of  his  supreme  love.  He  recog- 
nised ids  will  as  the  law  of  his  life. 

The  most  striking  thing  which  characterized  his  religious  expe- 
rience— as  it  is  perhaps  the  most  striking  peculiarity  of  his  mind — 
was  the  great  maturity  and  soberness  of  hiB  views.  His  earlier 
productions  bear  the  mark  and  character  of  ripe  years.  This  shows 
itself  in  his  mode  of  settling  questions  of  duty.  As  soon  as  the 
love  of  Christ  became  the  ruling  passion  of  his  soul,  we  find  him 
deciding  upon  the  choice  of  a  profession — and  then  upon  the  field 
of  labour.  He  decided  at  once,  and  yet  with  caution  and  a  clear 
view  of  the  reasons  for  and  against  so  early  a  decision.  He  thus 
states  them  to  his  father:  "If  I  now  decide  upon  my  profession,  I 
may  lay  my  mind  more  ardently  to  being  prepared  for  it;  I  may 
the  more  readily  make  all  my  pursuits  subservient  to  this;  and 
secondly,  if  I  now  decide  to  be  a  minister,  it  may  conduce  to  per- 
sonal piety  and  a  closer  walk  with  God.  On  the  other  hand,  there 
may  be  objected,  first,  my  youth;  second,  my  inexperience  of  my 
ownself  and  others ;  third,  the  fickleness  of  my  temper,  and,  fourth, 
circumstances  may  occur,  which  may  render  it  obligatory  for  me  to 
change  my  views.  I  regard  myself  in  this  light.  I  profess  to  be, 
and  hope  I  am,  a  servant  of  Christ;  the  command  is,  "Go  work." 
The  first  question  is,  how  shall  I  work?  the  second,  where? 

With  this  full  view  of  the  question,  we  find  him,  September,  1835, 
already  determined  upon  the  ministry  as  his  calling.  The  question 
of  personal  consecration  to  the  missionary  work,  had  been  before 
him  from  his  first  experience  of  a  hope  in  Christ,  and  he  met  it  with 
the  same  clearness  in  his  views;  the  same  deliberation  and  prayer, 
and  the  same  decision,  as  the  previous  question  of  his  calling.  In 
a  letter  to  his  father,  he  says:  "This  question  has,  as  you  are  aware, 
long  been  before  my  mind.  This  session  I  felt  it  to  be  important  to 
know  what  I  should  do,  and  what  time  I  could  spare  was  devoted 
to  the  examination  of  the  question.  It  never  seemed  to  present  any 
great  difficulties  to  my  mind-  and  I  don't  know  that  I  could  give  any 


WALTER    MACOX    LOWRIE.  283 

particular  account  of  the  reasons  which  led  lae  to  believe  that  it  was 
my  duty  to  spend  my  life  among  the  heathen.  The  question  always 
seemed,  though  a  Yery  important  one,  to  be.  Can  I  do  more  abroad 
than  at  home?  There  were  no  providential  hindrances  to  prevent 
me  from  going.  Providence  seemed  rather  to  point  to  the  heathen 
as  the  proper  place.  My  own  inclinations  and  feelings  pointed  the 
same  way."  He  made  this  determination  Avitli  a  full  sense  of  his  own 
weakness:  but  once  made,  he  never  shrank  from  carrying  it  into 
effect.  He  knew  no  regrets ;  and  from  henceforth  all  his  energies 
were  bent  to  the  preparation  for  that  work. 

This  determination  was  formed  about  the  middle  of  January,  1837, 
and  in  September  of  the  same  year  he  completed  his  college  course 
with  the  highest  honours  of  his  class. 

On  leaving  college  Mr.  L.  returned  to  his  father's  family,  then 
residino;  in  New- York.  His  constitution  being;  weak  it  was  thougiht 
best  by  his  friends  that  he  should  not  enter  immediately  upon  his 
theological  course.  He  spent  the  winter  therefore  in  New-York.  In 
May,  1838,  he  entered  the  theological  seminary  at  Princeton,  and 
joined  the  class  regularly  formed  in  September  following.  His  course 
in  the  seminary  was  not  marked  by  any  peculiar  circumstances.  He 
was  faithful  in  all  his  duties,  "and  never  absent  from  a  single  recita- 
tion," He  entered  with  zeal  into  the  study  of  the  original  Scriptures; 
so  necessary  to  a  successful  missionary,  and  in  which  he  was  emi- 
nently useful  in  after  life.  He,  however,  kept  his  main  end  in  view, 
and  every  thing  was  made  subservient  to  this.  The  fire  which  wa& 
kindled  in  his  soul  never  died  out.  He  was  rapidly  maturing  in 
principle  and  faith.  His  religion  was  taking  on  more  and  more  the 
cast  of  his  mind.  In  his  correspondence  with  Lloyd  and  Owen  he 
lays  open  to  us  his  feelings  and  views.  He  refers  to  his  college 
experience:  "It  seems  to  me  that  we  all  lived  too  much  by  excite- 
ment, not  enough  by  simple  faith.  Our  religious  societies  were  pre- 
cious and  profitable,  and  I  should  be  sorry  to  give  them  up,  but 
perhaps  we  depended  too  much  upon  them,  without  remembering 
that  it  is  God  alone  who  can  give  the  increase,  and  depending  on 
these  means  (at  least  in  my  own  case)  was  productive  of  a  spirit  of 
action  more  resembling  the  crackling  of  thorns  than  the  steady 
intense  flame  that  consumed  the  Jewish  sacrifices.  On  this  subject 
there  is  danger  of  making  great  mistakes,  and  because  we  do  not 
t»jo>/  reli'j/on,  of  thinking  that  we  are  not  as  engaged  as  we  were  then. 


284  WALTEPw    MACON    LOWRIE. 

The  truth  I  suppose  is,  that  we  are  not  to  measure  our  piety  by  our 
enjoyment  so  much  as  by  tlie  steadiness  of  our  purpose  of  self-conse- 
cration to  God."  "Our  feelings  are  important,  but  I  find  it  often 
necessary  to  go  against  them.  They  are  like  perfumes  that  sweeten 
the  gales  which  waft  us  on  our  course;  and  at  times  they  may  even 
be  compared  to  the  gales  that  assist  the  galley-slave  as  he  toils  at 
the  oar.  But  we  are  rowing  up  stream,  and  it  will  not  do  for  u^  to 
lie  on  our  oars  every  time  the  breeze  lulls. — The  flame  was  now  that 
intense  steady  flame  of  deep-seated  principle.  His  reliance  upon 
the  divinely  appointed  means  of  grace,  was  consistent,  as  it  always 
must  be,  with  the  most  ardent  and  genuine  feeling.  He  warns  his 
friend  against  excitement  or  romance,  and  yet  in  the  very  next  sen- 
tence addresses  him  with  questions  like  these:  "What  is  the  state 
of  missionary  feeling  now  among  you?  Do  you  yet  hear  the  crj', 
'Come  over  and  help  us,'  as  it  rises  from  the  death-bed  of  the  Hin- 
doo, and  borne  along  across  the  waste  of  waters  reaches  our  ears  both 
from  the  east  and  west,  swelled  as  it  is  and  heightened  and  prolonged 
by  the  addition  of  innumerable  others?  Oh!  does  the  cry  of  the 
nations,  echoed  and  reechoed  from  the  distant  mountains,  still  sound 
among  you?  or  does  it  die  away  among  the  crumbling  ruins  of 
heathen  temples,  unheard  and  unheeded,  save  by  the  infidel  and 
Deist?  Oh,  who  is  there  to  come  up  to  the  help  of  the  Lord  against 
the  mighty !  There  is  nothing  in  all  my  course  for  which  I  reproach 
myself  so  much  as  that  I  did  so  little  to  excite  a  missionary  spirit 
in  college." 

While  in  the  seminary  his  mind  was  occupied  with  the  choice  of 
a  field  of  labour.  He  had  long  since  determined  to  spend  his  life 
among  the  heathen,  but  where  he  should  labour  now  became  a  ques- 
tion of  importance.  His  mind  was  soon  fixed  upon  Western  Africa, 
though  the  prospect  of  living  there  was  very  uncertain.  His 
feelings  were  enlisted  warmly  for  that  injured  and  benighted  land; 
and  his  judgment  went  with  his  feelings,  as  to  his  personal  duty. 
In  a  letter  to  Lloyd,  he  says:  "Let  me  whisper  in  your  ear,  for  I 
don't  want  it  known,  that  I  look  to  a  field  nearer  home  than  China, 
or  even  Northern  India— I  mean  Western  Africa,  the  white  man's 
grave."  With  this  determination  he  offered  himself  in  December, 
1840,  to  the  Board.of  EoreignJ^issioi^^  of  the  Presb^'terian  Church, 
expressing  a  decided  preference  for  Western  Africa  as  a  chosen  field 
of  labour,  but  still  submitting  himself  cheerfully  to  the  decision  of 
the  Committee.     No  objection  to  this  preference  was  made  by  his 


WALTEK    MACON    LOAVKIE.  285 

friends,  and  for  several  months  the  question  was  considered  as  fully 
settled.  The  mission  was,  however,  at  that  time  "just  commencing, 
and  encompassed  with  many  difficulties."  It  had  also  been  severely 
tried.  Most  of  those  who  had  been  sent  there  had  been  removed 
by  death  or  ill-health,  "In  these  circumstances,  and  having  no 
other  suitable  man  to  send,  it  seemed  clear  that  China  was  the  proper 
field  of  labour  for  Mr.  Lowrie.  It  was  believed  also  that  from  the 
tone  of  his  piety,  his  cheerful  temper,  his  thorough  education,  his 
natural  talents,  and  untiring  industry,  he  was  peculiarly  fitted  for 
the  China  mission."  He  yielded  cheerfully  to  the  judgment  of  the 
Executive  Committee  and  his  friends.  It  was  not,  however,  from 
any  sense  of  the  danger  to  life  in  Africa.  He  was  unwilling  himself 
to  assume  the  responsibility  of  going  to  any  other  country;  but  he 
left  himself  at  the  disposal  of  the  Board,  viewing  their  decision  as  the 
call  of  God. 

He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gospel  by  the  Second  Presbytery  of 
New  York  on  the  5th  of  April,  1841.  The  larger  part  of  the  following 
summer  was  spent  in  the  service  of  the  Board  in  Michigan  and 
among  the  churches  in  Western  New-York.  He  was  ordained  on 
the  9th  of  November,  and  on  the  last  Sabbath  of  that  month  received 
the  instructions  of  the  Board. 

During  his  college  and  seminary  courses  Mr.  Lowrie  was  a  most 
zealous  and  successful  labourer  in  the  Sunday  school.  He  won  the 
affections  of  his  scholars,  and  inspired  the  teachers  with  his  own 
fixed  purpose  and  ardent  spirit.  The  deep  interest  which  he  took 
in  these  schools,  grew  out  of,  or  at  least  gathered  strength  from  their 
close  connection  with  a  right  missionary  feeling  in  the  churches.  In 
a  letter  to  a  friend  in  the  ministry,  he  writes:  "I  am  becoming  more 
and  more  convinced  that  it  is  in  vain  to  expect  the  present  genera- 
tion of  Christians  to  do  their  duty  in  the  work  of  missions;  I  do  not 
say  this  in  a  spirit  of  censoriousness,  but  from  a  growing  conviction 
that  unless  the  subject  of  missions  is  early  impressed  on  the  minds 
of  children;  unless  habits  of  self-denial  and  liberality  for  and  to  the 
heathen  are  encouraged  in  them,  it  is  vain  to  expect  that  they  will, 
when  they  grow  up,  perform  in  any  tolerable  measure  the  duties  to 
the  heathen  that  may  be  expected  from  them.  Hence,  it  seems  to 
me,  if  I  were  a  pastor,  I  w^ould  commence  at  once,  or  as  soon  as  I 
dared  in  my  Sabbath  school.  If  the  superintendent  could  not,  or 
would  not,  I  would  as  often  as  possible  give  the  children  some  ideas 
of  the  state  of  the  heathen,  their  superstitions,  their  spiritual  pros- 


286  WALTER    MAC  OX    LOWRIE. 

pects,  kc,  and  b}^  degrees  I  would  get  tliem  in  the  habit  cf  giving 
their  pennies  to  the  mission arj'  society.  This  would  require  constant 
attention  and  labour  on  the  part  of  the  pastor,  but  the  result  would 
repa}'  the  labour."  It  was  from  this  conviction  that  he  afterwards 
•wrote  that  admirable  series  of  missionary  letters  to  children,  since 
published  and  circulated  widely  among  the  churches. 

After  a  long  delay  he  left  New- York  in  the  ship  Huntress,  January 
19,  1842.  In  the  midst  of  that  most  severe  trial — the  parting  with 
relatives  and  long-cherished  friends — his  mind  was  calm  and  peace- 
ful. "The  conviction  that  I  was  in  the  path  of  duty,  and  the  felt- 
presence  and  sustaining  influence  of  an-all-gracious  Saviour,  upheld 
me,  and  carried  me  safely  through  a  scene  that  I  had  dreaded  almost 
as  much  as  death  itself" 

The  vo3^age  was  a  prosperous  one.  The  whole  number  of  persons 
onboard  the  vessel  was  thirty-one,  and  to  these  Mr.  Lowrie  preached 
cver}^  Sabbath  with  the  exception  of  two.  The  attention  was  good. 
The  seed  was  sown,  and  left  to  germinate  and  bring  forth  its  fruit 
under  the  fosteinng  care  of  the  Spirit  of  God.  He  landed  at  Macao 
on  the  27th  of  May,  and  closes  his  journal  with  that  expression 
which  he  so  often  repeated,  as  if  significant  of  his  own  melanchol}' 
end, — "What  a  blessed  place  heaven  will  be,  luhere  there  is  no 
more  seaP'' 

At  the  time  of  his  landing,  hostilities  still  existed  between  Great 
Britain  and  China.  The  five  ports  were  not  yet  open  to  the  gospel. 
The  missionaries  who  were  already  in  the  field,  were  labouring  at 
Singapore  and  Macao,  rather  as  a  preparative  for  the  great  work, 
than  in  the  work  itself  Still,  all  were  looking  for  the  time  when 
God  should,  in  his  providence,  break  down  these  barriers,  and  open 
that  populous  nation  to  the  gospel.  Different  branches  of  the  church 
had  sent  out  small  and  feeble  bands,  to  be  ready  to  enter  the  field, 
when  God  should  throw  it  open  to  Christian  effort.  The  instruc- 
tions of  Mr.  Lowrie  made  it  his  duty  to  inquire  into  the  practica- 
bility of  establishing  a  station  at  Hong-Kong  or  some  point  on  the 
coast  farther  north;  and  then  proceed  to  Singapore,  and  consult  with 
the  brethren  there  as  to  the  propriety  of  removing  the  mission  and 
concentrating  the  whole  force  in  China.  After  instituting  these 
inquiries  in  company  with  the  Eev.  S.  L.  McBryde,  he  sailed  from 
Macao  on  the  18th  of  June,  for  Singapore.  He  took  passage  in  a 
British  vessel  manned  with  Lascars ;  and  after  beatinG"  about  for  four 


WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE.  287 

montlis,  in  unavailing  efforts  to  reacli  that  place,  returned  to  Hong 
Kong.  It  was  during  this  voyage  that  he  met  so  much  suffering 
and  danger,  and  realized  more  fully  than  before  the  blessedness  of 
heaven^  where  there  is  no  more  sea.  Indeed  the  whole  vo^'age  was 
but  one  scene  of  trial  and  disaster.  He  left  in  the  hope  of  having 
a  rapid  passage,  and  of  soon  returning  with  his  brethren,  and  enter- 
ing upon  the  work  in  which  his  heart  was  engaged.  His  own  views 
were  clear  as  to  the  propriety  of  removing  the  mission  at  once. 
There  were  many  obvious  advantages  in  labouring  nearer  at  hand 
if  possible.  The  people  were  more  intelligent.  The  time  and 
exposure  of  going  and  returning  would  be  saved ;  and  the  mission 
would  be  better  situated  to  take  advantage  of  the  issue  of  the  war, 
if  God  in  his  providence  should  thus  open  that  country  to  the  gos- 
pel. With  these  hopes  and  views,  he  left  Macao.  But  God  ordered 
it  otherwise  than  he  hoped,  and  took  the  decision  of  that  important 
question  into  his  own  hands.  For  fifty-three  days  he  was  driven  uj) 
and  down  the  China  Sea  by  an  adverse  Monsoon.  The  vessel  was 
finally  compelled  to  put  into  Manilla  for  fresh  supplies.  These  days, 
however,  though  lost  apparently  to  his  work,  were  not  lost  to  him- 
self He  was  acquiring  rapidly,  by  this  adverse  experience,  that 
habit  of  resignation  to  the  will  of  God,  so  preeminently  important 
to  the  missionary;  that  confidence  in  the  wisdom  and  goodness  of 
God's  providence;  and  a  better  understanding  of  that  promise  which 
was  ever  afterwards  his  stay:  Xo,  /  am  loith  you  always.  Though 
alone,  separated  entirely  from  Christian  society,  and  surrounded 
constantly  by  scenes  of  great  wickedness,  yet  Christ  himself  was 
near,  and  this  silent  personal  communion  with  him  was  the  thing 
which  he  needed.  He  expresses  himself;  "Perhaps,  on  the  whole, 
this  voyage  will  be  one  of  the  most  profitable  I  have  ever  made. 
It  gives  opportunities  for  solitude,  which  I  have  not  had  for  months 
past — teaches  me  how  to  value  privileges  I  do  not  now  enjoy — dis- 
closes myself  to  myself,  and  forces  me  to  rely  not  on  human,  but 
divine  strength;  and  I  generally  enjoy  great  peace  of  mind,  though 
at  times  I  am  in  heaviness  through  manifold  temptations." — His 
Journal  abounds  with  expressions  of  his  increasing  attachment  to 
Christ,  and  his  growing  strength  in  the  faith  of  God's  promise  and 
providence. 

On  the  18th  of  September  he  lefi;  Manilla  for  Singapore,  with 
every  prospect  of  a  short  passage.  The  vessel  was  a  fast  one  and 
the  wind  was  fair.     For  a  few  days  every  thing  was  favourable;  but 


28S  WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE. 

on  September  25,  while  the  passengers  were  all  in  high  spirits  of 
soon  reaching  the  port,  "the.  ship  suddenly  struck  against  some 
obstacle  with  tremendous  violence.  It  impeded  her  onward  motion 
in  a  moment.  We  started  to  our  feet;  again  she  struck,  and  again 
she  reeled  like  a  drunken  man.  The  deck  quivered  beneath  our 
feet;  and  on  going  out  we  found  the  men  running  about,  the  officers 
giving  their  orders,  and  the  terrified  steward  groaning  and  wringing 
his  hands  at  the  cabin-door.  The  ship  soon  struck  again ; — the  water 
gained  rapidly,  though  four  pumps  were  kept  constantly  going;  and 
it  was  soon  evident  to  all  that  she  must  sink.  A  few  clothes 
and  valuables  were  packed  as  closely  as  possible.  It  was  arranged 
that  twenty-one,  including  the  captain  and  passengers,  should  go 
in  the  long-boat,  and  the  mate  and  seven  men  in  the  jolly-boat," 
"The  two  boats  were  manned,  and  in  the  midst  of  a  drenching  rain, 
a  heavy,  rolling-sea, — with  but  one  oar,  and  four  hundred  miles  from 
land,  we  commenced  our  perilous  voyage.  About  midnight,  the 
wind  abated,  the  clouds  dispersed,  and  we  kept  slowly  on  to  the 
north.  On  Monday  we  rigged  a  couple  of  masts,  and  a  respectable 
able  foresail  and  mainsail,  using  our  whole  oar  and  one  of  the  broken 
oars  for  yards.  A  man  and  a  boy  were  taken  in  from  the  jolly- 
boat,  which  made  our  whole  number  nineteen  men  and  four  boys 
in  a  boat  twenty-one  feet  long  and  eight  broad.  We  soon  ascer- 
tained that  there  was  only  eight  or  ten  gallons  of  water.  Monday 
was  a  tolerable  day,  and  we  made  some  progress  on  our  course, 
and  began  to  cherish  some  hopes  of  reaching  land.  But  Tuesday 
there  was  not  a  cloud  in  the  sk}';  scarcely  a  breath  of  wind,  and  the 
hot  sun  of  the  torrid  zone  beating  down  upon  us  with  scarcely  a  half- 
pint  of  water  to  quench  our  thirst.  A  fresh  breeze,  however,  sprang 
np  soon  after  dark,  which  lasted,  with  showers  of  rain,  through 
out  Wednesday.  Thursday  morning  the  wind  rose  and  the  sea 
began  to  run  high,  and  frequent  squalls  of.  wind  and  rain  darkened 
the  heavens  and  drenched  us  to  the  skin.  We  began  to  think  of 
other  things  than  of  seeing  land.  Conversation  ceased,  and  scarcely 
a  word  was  uttered  in  all  that  time,  except  the  orders  from  the 
captam  to  the  helmsman.  Many  a  longing,  anxious  look  did  we 
cast  before  us,  to  see  if  there  were  any  signs  of  land;  but  still  more 
to  the  west,  to  see  if  the  gale  gave  signs  of  abating." 

"Death  never  seemed  so  near  to  me  before.  An  emotion  of  sor- 
row pressed  through  my  mind  as  I  thought  of  my  friends  at  home, 
and  of  regret,  as  I  thought  of  the  work  for  which  I  had  come ;  but 


WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE.  289 

for  myself,  my  mind  was  kept  in  peace.  I  knew  in  wliom  I  liad 
believed,  and  felt  that  he  was  able  to  save;  and  though  solemn  in  the 
prospect  of  eternity,  I  felt  no  fear,  and  had  no  regrets  that  I  had 
perilled  my  life  in  such  a  cause." 

"The  day  thus  wore  away,  and  the  wind  was  now  so  strong,  and 
the  sea  so  high,  that  it  was  with  the  utmost  danger  that  we  could 
hold  on  our  course.  Besides,  by  our  calculation,  we  could  not  be  more 
than  thirty  or  forty  miles  from  land,  but  to  attempt  to  land  in  such  a 
sea,  in  the  dark,  would  be  madness  itself.  To  remain  where  we  were, 
even  if  it  were  possible^  seemed  to  be  remaining  in  the  jaws  of  death. 
It  was,  however,  our  only  hope,  and  accordingly  preparations  were 
made  for  heaving  the  boat  to.  This  was  a  most  perilous  opera- 
tion, for  had  a  wave  struck  her,  while  her  broadside  was  exposed 
to  it,  all  would  have  been  over  with  us.  For  awhile  the  result  was 
uncertain,  but  the  plan  succeeded  admirably.  The  wind  howled 
past  us  with  a  force  which  made  every  plank  in  the  boat  quiver; 
the  rain  fell  in  torrents;  and  we  could  hear  the  great  waves  as  they 
formed  and  rose  away  ahead  of  us,  and  then  rushed  toward  us 
with  a  sound  like  the  whizzing  of  an  immense  rocket.  There  we 
lay,  packed  together  so  closely  that  we  could  scarcely  move,  while 
every  now  and  then  a  dash  of  spray  came  over  us,  covering  us 
with  pale  phosphoric  sparks  that  shed  a  dim  and  fearful  light  around 
us.  Oh!  it  was  a  dreadful  night.  There  was  distress  and  perplex- 
ity, the  sea  and  the  waves  roaring,  and  men's  hearts  failing  them 
for  fear.  For  myself,  I  know  not  that  my  mind  was  ever  in  a 
calmer  state;  and  though  I  could  not  feel  those  clear  convictions  of 
my  safety  I  have  sometimes  had,  yet  my  faith  was  fixed  on  the 
Eock  of  Ages,  and  death,  which  then  appeared  near  and  certain, 
seemed  to  have  but  few  terrors  for  me.  The  morning  dawned:  but 
as  it  dawned,  the  wind  and  sea  increased.  As  soon  as  we  could 
see,  we  commenced  again  our  perilous  course ;  and  when  the  morn- 
ing had  fairly  dawned,  we  saw  the  land  stretching  along  right 
before  us,  about  ten  miles  off.  Supposing  it  to  be  the  entrance  to 
the  Manilla  Bay,  we  steered  directly  for  the  land.  Meanwhile,  the 
sea  rose  again ;  and  to  our  sorrow  we  found  that  we  had  mistaken 
the  land.  But  it  was  too  late  to  turn  back,  the  squall  was  upon  us, 
and  though  the  rain  fell  so  fast  that  we  could  not  see  more  than 
twenty  yards,  yet  on  we  must  go.  We  were  in  the  midst  of  break- 
ers; but  we  were  directed  in  a  channel  between  them,  and,  rounding 
a  projecting  point,  we  saw  a  little  cove  as  smooth  as  an  inland  lake. 
19 


290  WALTEE    MACON    LOWRIE. 

Soon  our  boat  touched  tlie  bottom,  and  we  were  safe.  It  was  a  time 
of  joy.  With  one  consent  we  gathered  together  under  the  trees, 
and  offered  up  our  thanksgiving  to  God.  It  was  well  we  came  in 
when  we  did,  for  it  was  then  high  tide,  and  a  few  hours  later,  the 
channel  through  which  we  passed  was  itself  one  mass  of  breakers." 

The  island  upon  which  they  had  landed  was  the  island  of  Luban. 
There  to  their  great  joy  they  found  the  crew  of  the  other  boat,  with 
the  exception  of  four  men,  who  had  been  drowned. 

Arrived  at  Manilla,  Mr.  Lowrie  found  kind  friends,  who  supplied 
his  wants.  He  was,  however,  still  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  but  thought 
it  best  to  return  to  China.  He  reached  Hong-Kong  on  the  17th  of 
October,  just  four  months  after  he  had  left  Macao  for  Singapore,  and 
closes  his  journal  with  that  beautiful  and  appropriate  passage  from 
Psalms:  cvii.  21-30. 

"During  the  time  spent  in  these  disastrous  voyages,  the  providence 
of  God  had  made  the  question  plain  on  which  the  missionaries  were 
seeking  light.  The  war  between  Great  Britain  and  China  had  been 
terminated  by  a  treaty  of  peace,  by  which  five  cities  on  the  coast 
were  opened  to  the  commerce  and  enterprise  of  Western  nations, 
and  to  the  labour  of  the  Christian  missionary.  The  time  was  fully 
come  when  the  labours  of  the  church  of  God,  in  behalf  of  China, 
needed  no  longer  to  be  carried  on  at  a  distant  out-post." 

Mr.  Lowrie  now  took  up  his  residence  at  Macao,  and  entered 
upon  the  study  of  the  Chinese  language ;  preaching  on  the  Sabbath 
to  the  American  and  European  residents  at  that  place.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  the  mission,  then  new,  and  having  few  with  whom  he 
could  consult,  threw  upon  him  heavy  responsibilities.  His  progress 
in  the  language  was  rapid.  He  writes  to  his  brother:  "My  impres- 
sions of  China  as  a  field  of  labour  are  much  improved  since  I  came  out 
here ;  and  after  we  once  get  free  access  to  the  people  I  do  not  think 
the  language  will  be  a  very  formidable  obstacle.  It  will  always  be 
difiicult,  but  I  am  inclined  to  think  its  difficulties  have  been  greatly 
overrated."  After  six  months  of  study,  he  was  able  to  read  in  easy 
Chinese  and  to  carry  on  a  conversation  with  his  teacher. 

As  it  was  thought  best  that  some  one  from  the  mission  should 
visit  the  northern  ports,  on  the  last  of  August  Mr.  Lowrie  left 
Macao  for  Amoy  and  Chusan,  calling  at  Hong-Kong.  During  his 
voyage  up  the  coast,  he  passed  the  three  great  opium  d(§p6ts.  The 
number  of  vessels  employed  in  this  traffic  is  very  great.     The  laws 


WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE.  291 

whicli  forbid  its  introduction,  are  a  dead  letter.  The  officers  con- 
nive at  its  sale,  and  the  people  will  part  with  any  thing  to  secure 
it;  and  its  use  is  most  deleterious.  It  is  one  of  the  strongest  chains 
in  which  Satan  has  bound  that  nation,  and  one  of  the  chief  obstacles 
to  the  progress  of  tlie  gospel.  Owing  to  an  unnecessary  delay  in 
their  departure,  and  an  ill-provided  crew,  they  were  not  able  to 
reach  Chusan  before  the  northern  monsoon  set  in,  and  were  com- 
pelled to  land  at  Amoy.  Mr.  L.  here  found  Mr.  Abeel  and  other 
missionaries  engaged  in  their  work.  While  at  Amoy,  Mr.  Abeel 
and  Mr.  L.  made  an  excursion  to  the  city  of  Chang-Chow — lying 
some  forty  miles  in  the  interior.  The  impressions  from  this  journey 
are  thus  stated  in  his  journal:  "We  were  struck  at  the  amazing 
populousness  of  the  country.  From  seven  o'clock  to  two  we  passed 
four  cities,  as  large  as  the  first  class  cities  in  the  United  States,  sur- 
rounded by  two  hundred  villages.  I  am  astonished  and  confounded, 
and  even  after  what  I  have  seen,  can  scarcely  believe  the  half  of 
what  must  be  true  respecting  the  multitudes — multitudes  of  people 
who  live  in  China,  and  who  are  perfectly  accessible  to  the  efforts  of 
the  missionary.  The  great  mass  of  these  people  are  poor  in 
the  strictest  sense  of  the  term.  You  see  it  in  the  coarse  clothing 
they  wear,  the  food  they  ea.t,  the  houses  they  inhabit,  the  furniture 
they  use,  and  the  wages  they  receive.  Let  the  missionary  who 
comes  to  China  bear  this  in  mind.  The  brightest  talents  are  needed 
in  preaching  to  the  poor, — but  especially  will  he  need  the  graces  of 
humility  and  self-denial,  of  faith  and  patience  in  his  efforts  to  instruct 
the  people.  This  people  are  still  more  degraded  by  the  use  of 
opium.  The  amount  of  capital  embarked  in  this  trade  is  enormous, 
and  the  eagerness  of  the  Chinese  to  secure  it,  almost  surpasses 
belief  Every  man  who  can  afford  to  buy  it,  uses  it,  and  I  have 
seen  common  beggars,  too  poor  to  buy  an  opium-pipe,  smoking  it 
out  of  a  little  earthen  vessel,  which  they  had  made  to  answer 
the  purpose  of  a  pipe.  But  these  poor  degraded  multitudes  are 
accessible.  China  is  open  to  the  gospel;  and  though  there  is  no 
hope  for  such  a  people  but  in  God,  yet  his  hand  is  not  shortened 
that  it  cannot  save,  nor  his  ear  heavy  that  it  cannot  hear." 

Mr.  L.  knew  well  the  wickedness  of  the  human  heart,  and  the 
serious  obstacles  which  must  be  encountered  in  any  attempt,  to  bring 
such  a  people  under  the  power  of  the  truth.  And  yet  his  hopes, 
stayed  upon  the  promise  of  God,  never  failed.  His  faith  kept  him 
cheerful  in  the  midst  of  the  most  arduous  labours.     He  counted  the 


292  WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE. 

cost,  and  then  set  about  the  work  manfully  and  hopefully.  Writing 
to  the  students  of  the  seminary  at  Princeton,  he  says:  "Chinese 
missionaries  must  expect  trials.  We  have  a  great  work  to  perform, 
if  this  people  is  to  be  converted  to  God;  but  when  was  it  ever 
known  that  any  great  work  was  accomplishec!,  without  labour  and 
toil,  self-denial  and  sacrifice,  and  oftentimes  the  acutest  mental 
anguish?  Has  not  every  work  that  has  been  performed  in  the 
world  for  God,  been  watered  by  the  sweat,  and  the  tears,  and  the 
blood  of  his  servants?  And  can  we  expect  that  the  conversion  of 
the  most  populous  nation  of  the  globe,  shall  be  accomplished  with 
ordinary  efforts  and  ordinary  sorrows?  General  experience  is 
against  it:  the  experience  of  the  missionaries  in  China  is  against  it: 
and  the  example  of  the  Son  of  God,  in  the  redemption  of  the  world, 
should  teach  us  not  to  expect  it."  On  returning  from  Amoy  to 
Hong-Kong,  he  was  again  in  great  danger.  They  had  scarcely  put 
to  sea,  when  the  rudder  of  the  vessel  gave  way,  and  they  were  left 
at  the  mercy  of  the  waves.  The  wind  and  current,  however,  drifted 
them  on  in  their  course;  and  they  succeeded  in  fitting  up  the  rud- 
der so  as  to  control  the  vessel,  just  as  they  were  about  entering 
the  China  Sea,  when  their  only  hope  would  have  been  to  have  been 
picked  up  by  some  passing  vessel. 

Mr.  L.  returned  to  Macao,  and  prosecuted  the  study  of  the  Man- 
darin ;  still  uncertain  at  which  of  the  five  ports  opened  by  the  British 
treaty,  he  should  be  stationed.  During  the  following  year,  the  mis- 
sionary force  was  much  enlarged.  The  location  of  thebrethernwas 
a  subject  of  much  delicacy;  and  a  large  share  of  the  responsibility 
fell  upon  Mr.  L.,  as  the  oldest  missionary  upon  the  ground.  But 
after  consultation  and  prayer,  Mr.  L.  with  four  of  his  brethren  were 
stationed  at  Ningpo,  one  of  the  most  northern  ports.  He  did  not, 
however,  remove  until  February,  1845. 

In  the  mean  time,  he  was  much  occupied  with  the  experiments 
accessary  to  complete  the  process  of  printing  the  Chinese  with 
metallic  type.  "Every  thing  was  new,  and  the  entire  arrangement 
of  the  characters  devolved  upon  him.  After  months  of  labour,  the 
difficulties  were  surmounted,  and  the  press  went  into  successful 
operation,  June,  1844."  This  extra  labour  interfered  greatly  with 
his  Chinese  studies;  and  he  was  longing  for  the  time  to  come  when 
he  could  speak  of  Christ  to  the  nations. 

The  year  1845  was  an  important  one  in  the  history  of  China, 
and  particularly  in  the  history  of  the  Presbyterian  mission  among 


WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE.  293 

that  people.  It  was  during  this  year  that  those  remarkable  docu- 
ments were  published,  "giving  full  toleration  to  the  exercise  of  the 
Christian  religion  without  distinction  and  without  obstruction." 
During  this  year,  the  missions  of  the  Presbyterian  church  began  to 
assume  a  more  settled  form.  Early  in  the  year,  the  missionaries 
reached  their  stations,  and  commenced  their  work  under  favourable 
auspices.  In  fixing  upon  the  field  of  labour,  Mr.  Lloyd  and  Mr.  L. 
were  separated.  This  was  a  great  disappointment  to  these  intimate 
friends,  but  it  seemed  clearly  the  will  of  Providence:  and  after 
seeing  each  other  for  two  weeks,  they  parted  to  meet  no  more,  until 
they  meet  around  the  throne  above.  The  sacrifice  was  cheerfully 
made,  as  a  part  of  that  necessary  trial  in  the  great  work  of  bringing 
this  people  back  to  God. 

On  the  21st  of  January,  1845,  Mr.  L.  bade  farewell  to  Macao,  and 
turned  his  face  to  the  north.  He  had  witnessed  great  changes 
during  his  residence  in  Macao.  He  found  China  closed;  now  five 
large  cities  were  open  to  the  gospel.  The  only  missionary  on  the 
ground,  from  his  own  church,  had  been  called  home  by  ill-health, 
and  he  had  welcomed  eight  others  to  a  share  in  this  work.  In 
other  missions,  sad  changes  had  taken  place.  Some  had  gone  to 
their  rest,  some  had  returned  to  their  own  land,  not  to  return,  and 
some  had  gone  to  recruit  their  wasted  energies.  It  had  been  a  time 
of  change  and  trial. 

He  was  detained  at  Hong-Kong  nearly  a  month;  and  then  left  in 
a  fast-sailing  vessel,  but  with  adverse  winds.  After  a  rough  voyage 
of  twenty-three  days,  he  landed  near  the  city  of  Shanghai,  the  most 
northern  city  open  to  the  missionary.  He  reached  Chusan  on  the 
1st  of  April,  and  Ningpo  on  the  11th.  At  Chusan  he  opened  his 
books,  and  found  them  sadly  injured.  "Some  utterly  ruined,  three- 
fourths  defaced,  or  seriously  damaged."  This  was  a  heavy  loss  to  a 
scholar  far  from  libraries  and  the  facilities  for  repairing  the  injury. 

"The  city  of  Ningpo  lies  in  the  centre  of  a  large  plain,  sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  mountains,  and  intersected  by  innumerable 
canals,  which  serve  the  double  purpose  of  irrigation  and  travelling." 
It  has  a  wall  some  fifteen  feet  in  height.  There  are  two  lakes  and  a 
canal  within  the  city,  communicating  with  those  outside  by  water- 
gates.  The  city  is  about  six  miles  in  circumference,  and  contains 
from  three  to  four  hundred  thousand  inhabitants.  Here,  with  Dr. 
McCartee,  Mr.  Culberston,  and  Mr.  Way,  he  began  to  enter  fully 
upon  the  great  work  for  which  he  lived.     He  located  himself  in  a 


294  WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE. 

monastery,  just  within  the  north  gate  of  the  city.  Here,  with  his 
teachers,  and  with  occasional  walks  into  the  surrounding  villages 
and  country,  he  spent  the  remainder  of  this  year. 

Althouo-h  Mr,  L.  had  now  been  in  China  between  two  and  three 

O 

years,  yet,  owing  to  frequent  interruptions,  he  had  not  been  able  to 
devote  more  than  about  half  that  time  to  the  acquisition  of  the  lan- 
guage. His  attention,  moreover,  had  previously  been  turned  to  the 
Mandarin  or  court  dialect,  and  to  the  written  language.  In  these  he 
had  laid  a  broad  foundation,  which  was  afterwards  of  great  use,  and 
had  his  life  been  spared,  would  have  made  more  eminently  useful. 
He  was,  however,  beginning  to  use  the  spoken  language  with  con- 
siderable fluency.  In  a  letter  to  his  father,  he  gives  his  views  thus: 
"  After  a  good  deal  of  thought,  I  am  about  settling  down  to  the 
opinion,  that  I  ought  to  aim  at  a  pretty  full  knowledge  of  books 
and  writing  in  Chinese.  In  a  mission  so  large  as  ours,  and  where 
Ave  have  a  press,  there  must  be  some  one  tolerably  at  home  on  such 
points.  I  have  been  so  circumstanced  as  to  turn  my  thoughts  much 
that  way.  I  have  laid  such  a  foundation  of  acquaintance  with  the 
written  language,  as  enables  me  to  go  on  with  some  ease,  and  such  as 
the  other  brethren  can  hardly  be  expected  to  do  in  some  time.  My 
education  and  previous  habits  are  also  such  as  fit  me  more  for  this, 
than  mingling  with  men,  unless  actually  obliged  to  do  so.  I  pro- 
pose, therefore,  not  to  neglect  the  colloquial,  but  to  lay  out  a  good 
portion  of  my  strength  in  reading  and  writing  Chinese;  keeping  in 
view,  chiefly,  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  and  works  explana- 
tory of  them,  and  perhaps  the  preparation  of  elementary  books, 
and  it  may  be,  a  dictionary,  a  thing  greatly  needed."  There  was 
the  more  need  that  some  should  devote  themselves  to  this  study,  as 
the  question  of  a  new  translation  was  now  a  prominent  one  among 
the  missionaries.  "Morrison's  translation  was  not  adapted  to  gen- 
eral use.  The  same  was  true  of  Marshraan's.  The  new  translation 
of  Medhurst  was  much  better,  but  still  far  from  perfect.  It  was 
felt  by  all,  that  a  new  translation  must  be  made." 

In  accordance  with  the  plan  above  delineated,  Mr.  L.,  without 
forgetting  the  great  work  of  preaching,  had  prepared  a  work  on 
Luke — the  text  accompanied  with  notes,  explaining  the  historical 
allusions,  geography,  customs,  &;c.,  &c.  He  had  also  prepared  a  small 
tract  upon  the  Sabbath,  with  the  second  and  fourth  commandments. 

In  a  letter  to  the  Society  of  Inquiry,  at  Princeton,  near  the  close 
of  this  year,  Mr.  L.  states  his  impressions  of  the  field  and  prospects 


WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE.  295 

of  tlie  mission:  "Few  have  any  idea  of  tlie  extent  of  the  groan  J 
that  is  opened  and  opening  to  our  hibours.  This  country  is  a  world 
in  itself,  and  the  thought  has  often  occurred  to  me,  in  traversing  its 
beautiful  plains  and  crowded  streets,  what  a  world  has  here  been 
revolving,  of  which  Christendom  knows  nothing.  And  this  vast 
teeming  population  must  have  the  gospel  or  must  perish.  Books 
will  not  do  the  work.  It  is  the  living  teacher  who  must  speak  unto 
them  the  words  of  life.  Such  is  the  field  we  cultivate.  As  to  our 
prospects,  you  have  them  in  the  concluding  verses  of  Psalm  cxxvi. : 

They  that  sow  in  tears, 

With  shoutings  shall  gather  the  harvest. 

Going,  he  shall  go,  even  with  weeping,  burdened  with  the  seed  to  be  sown. 

Coming,  he  shall  come,  and  with  shouting,  burdened  with  his  sheaves.'" 

The  year  1845  closed  with  these  labours. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  18-16,  Mr.  L.  began  to  preach.  At  first 
his  attempts  were  not  much  to  his  satisfaction.  He  describes  his 
service  October  4th:  "To-day  commenced  a  Chinese  service  in  my 
house,  inviting  Choo-pang-  Yew  and  all  the  friends  to  come  and  hear. 

About  the  hour,  my  servant  went  to  the  door,  and  invited  the 
passers-by  to  come  in.  Some  came  in  with  their  burdens,  some 
looking  half-afraid,  some  ran  right  out  again ;  some  stood  up,  some 
sat  down,  some  smoked  their  pipes,  some  said  what  is  the  use  of 
staying? — he  is  a  foreigner,  and  we  do  not  understand  foreign  talk. 
The  attention  was  none  of  the  best,  and  it  required  all  my  courage 
and  presence  of  mind  to  keep  going,  and  the  people  feeling  quite 
free  to  make  remarks,  I  got  along  no  better  than  I  had  anticipated. 
I  was  not  discouraged,  though  by  no  means  flattered,  with  the  result 
of  this  first  day's  experiment." 

He  thus  describes  his  mode  of  preparing  and  preaching:  "I  write 
a  sermon  every  week,  some  eight  pages,  not  so  large  as  a  letter-paper 
sheet.  This  I  look  over  several  times  on  a  Sunday ;  put  up  a  notice 
on  my  door  that  there  will  be  preaching.  I  commonly  commence 
as  soon  as  there  are  five  or  six  present,  and  if  the  weather  be  fair 
I  am  pretty  sure  to  have  from  fifteen  to  forty  hearers.  As  the 
people  keep  coming  and  going,  I  preach  the  same  sermon  over  again 
on  the  same  afternoon ;  and  in  this  way  I  reach  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  on  the  Sabbath."  This  opportunity  of  preaching  to  such 
audiences  and  under  such  circumstances  was  the  matter  of  his  high- 
est joy  and  thankfulness. 


296  WALTER     MACON    LOWRIE. 

In  September  of  this  year  Mr,  L.  commenced  the  work  of  pre- 
paring a  dictionary  of  the  four  books,  and  the  five  classics.  These 
books  contain  the  body  of  the  Chinese  language,  and  would  have  led 
him  eventually  to  form  a  complete  dictionary  of  the  language.  His 
plan  was  to  give  each  of  the  characters  with  its  pronunciation  in 
Mandarin,  and  each  of  the  dialects  of  the  five  ports.  Then  to  give 
the  etymology  of  the  word;  then  to  give  the  different  significations; 
and  quotations  from  native  authors  to  illustrate  each  signification. 
"As  the  whole  of  the  ancient  history,  geography,  &c.,  is  contained 
in  these  classics,  I  want  ray  work  to  be  a  sort  of  Classical  Dictionary 
on  these  points.  Hence  I  prepare  short  biographical,  historical,  and 
geographical  sketches,  under  the  appropriate  characters,  with  refer- 
ences to  native  and  foreign  authors."  This  was  an  interesting  as 
well  as  difficult  work ;  and  he  devoted  himself  to  it  with  all  his 
accustomed  energy  and  perseverance.  He  had  made  large  progress 
towards  its  completion  when  called  away  from  his  labours  here. 

Another  work  which  occupied  his  attention  was  the  translation 
of  the  Shorter  Catechism.  Owing  to  the  condensed  style  in  which 
the  catechism  is  written,  and  the  want  of  equivalents  to  many 
of  its  terms,  this  was  a  laborious  undertaking.  He  finished  it 
May,  1847. 

He  contributed  some  papers  to  the  "Chinese  Repository,"  on  the 
word  to  be  used  in  translating  the  name  of  God  into  Chinese. 
These  were  among  the  first  papers  advocating  the  choice  so  ably 
sustained  since  by  Bishop  Boone  and  Dr.  Bridgman. 

During  this  year  he  complains,  with  many  of  his  missionary 
brethren,  of  a  low  state  of  piety,  and  a  want  of  conseci'ation  to  God. 
"God  is  showing  me  of  late,  in  a  very  painful  way,  that  in  myself  I 
am  nothing;  can  do  nothing,  and  am  utterly  sinful  and  vile.  There 
has  been  much  strangeness  between  God  and  my  soul  for  many 
months  past,  and  often  a  great  reluctance  to  a  close  and  faithful  deal- 
ing with  myself;  so  that  I  have  lost  the  savour  of  spiritual  things, 
and  the  perception  of  the  beauties  of  the  Bible,  and  seldom  draw 
nigh  to  God.  I  seem  to  satisfy  myself  with  very  faint  services.  Oh, 
Lord  God,  give  me  wings,  and  enable  me  to  breathe  the  pure  and 
spiritual  atmosphere  of  heaven!  But  I  trust  I  am  one  of  God's 
people,  and  have  not  wholly  forsaken  his  service.  I  have  sought 
happiness  in  my  study,  books,  correspondence,  business,  friends; 
and  with  a  half  heart  to  them  and  a  half  heart  to  God,  how  misera- 
bly have  I  gone  on!     Oh  Lord,  unite  my  heart  to  fear  thy  namel" 


WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE.  297 

There  are  Christian  hearts  even  on  Christian  ground  who  ^\ill  find 
no  difficulty  in  reading  their  own  experience  here. 

lu  reference  to  the  trials  of  a  missionary  life,  Mr.  L.  speaks  thus 
in  a  paper  found  among  his  manuscripts  after  his  death:  "The  first 
trial  is  commonly  in  the  language  he  has  to  learn.  He  is  astonished 
and  almost  sickened  by  the  sights  of  idolatry  which  he  now  sees 
with  his  own  eyes.  His  heart  is  overflowing  with  the  desire  to  tes- 
tify against  the  sins  he  sees,  and  burning  with  zeal  to  urge  upon  the 
people  repentance  toward  God  and  faith  toward  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  Alas !  my  brother,  your  mouth  is  closed  and  your  tongue 
tied.  Restraining  your  zeal  as  you  may,  you  sit  down  to  your  books, 
your  teacher  at  your  side,  and  work  away  in  a  hot  climate  sustained 
by  hope.  But  we  will  suppose  this  first  difficulty  overcome.  You 
have  your  first  sermon  prepared.  You  have  studied  it  carefully. 
You  have  prayed  and  wept  over  it.  You  open  your  doors,  and 
with  a  heart  not  wholly  calm  wait  for  your  hearers.  After  getting 
something  like  order  established,  you  commence  to  talk  with 
them.  Some  few  give  a  fixed  attention.  The  most,  however,  stare 
vacantly,  and  while  delivering  your  most  earnest  exhortations,  two  or 
three  get  up  and  walk  out;  or  one  man  commences  an  audible  con- 
versation with  his  neighbour,  another  smokes  his  pipe,  and  another 
takes  nuts  out  of  his  pocket,  and  deliberatel}''  emploj'S  himself  in 
munching  them.  You  soon  begin  to  observe  that  few  of  your  hear- 
ers come  the  second  time.  You  find  too  that  they  are  utterly  igno- 
rant of  the  first  principles  of  the  oracles  of  God.  You  see  no  result 
of  your  labours.  In  the  midst  of  all  these  discouragements  it  will 
be  very  strange  if,  after  a  few  months,  you  do  not  feel  the  thought 
rising  up, — 'Well,  there  is  no  use  in  talking  to  a  people  like  this.' 
Then  there  is  that  sense  of  loneliness.  Our  congregations  are  dead. 
We  have  no  Christian  families  to  visit.  It  is  not  pleasant  to  go 
through  the  crowded  burial-grounds  here  or  look  out  over  the  plains. 
Death  reigns.  An  idol  temple  pollutes  every  scene.  The  air  is 
loaded  with  the  smoke  of  incense  offered  to  devils.  The  breezes 
waft  sounds  of  idolatrous  worship  to  our  ears.  We  look  over  a 
region  where  there  are  thousands  and  myriads  of  people,  and  we 
feel  that  we  are  alone  here.  Oh,  the  loneliness,  the  utter  desolation 
of  soul.  I  have  sometimes  felt,  in  walking  through  these  crowded 
streets,  the  very  dogs  barking  at  me  for  a  foreigner,  and  not  one 
among  all  these  thousands  to  whom  I  could  utter  the  name  of  Jesus 
with  any  hope  of  a  response.    Dry  bones!  very  dry!    We  are  walk- 


298  WALTER    MACON    LOWEIE. 

iag  among  decaying  skeletons,  and  grinning  skulls,  and  death  reigns. 
This  is  loneliness.  "We  liave  temptations  like  yours,  perhaps 
"vvorse.  We  have  to  look  on  idolatry  and  vice  as  common  things, 
and  accustom  ourselves  to  see,  with  comparatively  little  concern, 
things  that  would  deprive  you  of  your  rest.  We  must  also  more  or 
less  feel  the  influence  of  the  public  sentiment  of  these  heathen  lands ; 
which,  like  the  hot  blasts  of  summer,  that  weaken  our  bodies,  blows 
over  our  souls  with  its  sickening  influences,  like  the  poisonous  breath 
of  Ill-praise  in  the  '  Holy  War.'  Forget  not  to  pray  for  those  who 
are  often  troubled  on  ever}'-  side,  though  not  distressed;  perplexed, 
though  not  in  despair;  persecuted,  but  not  forsaken;  cast  down, 
but  not  destroyed." 

The  missionaries  at  Ningpo  were  encouraged  by  the  hopeful  con- 
version of  three  persons  to  Christ;  they  were  enabled  to  close  their 
report  with  thanksgiving  for  the  past  and  hope  for  the  future:  "In 
the  midst  of  idolatry  and  superstition,  and  the  accompanying  degra- 
dation in  morals  and  character,  much  has  been  gained.  We  have 
a  knowledge  of  the  disposition,  habits,  and  modes  of  thought  of  the 
people;  we  have  laid  the  foundation  of  such  a  knowledge  of  the 
language,  as  will  enable  us  to  declare  intelligibly  the  whole  counsel 
of  God ;  we  have  begun  to  be  favourably  known  among  the  people, 
many  have  become  acquainted  with  our  object  in  residing  among 
them;  and  not  a  few  have  attained  a  considerable  knowledge  of  the 
doctrine  we  teach ;  suflB.cient  to  lead  them  to  a  Saviour,  were  it  not 
for  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief.  On  the  other  hand,  the  state  of  society 
aiFords  us  many  grounds  of  encouragement.  There  are  no  walls  of 
caste.  There  are  no  titled  aristocracy.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a  quiet, 
peaceful  people.  We  may  preach  the  gospel  with  the  same  freeness 
and  boldness  as  in  America,  and  the  fields  are  white  to  the  harvest." 

The  early  part  of  the  year  1817  was  spent  in  much  the  same 
method:  preaching  on  the  Sabbath ;  correcting  proofs  for  the  press; 
carrying  on  a  large  correspondence ;  and  pressing  on  with  his  trans- 
lations and  his  dictionary.  His  plans  were  constantly  enlarging 
as  he  advanced  with  his  work.  He  was  gaining  rapidly  an  insight 
into  the  genius  and  meaning  of  the  language,  and  also  in  ability  to 
express  himself  in  public  discourses. 

"Having  been  appointed  one  of  the  delegates  for  the  revision  of 
the  translation  of  the  Bible,  he  reached  Shanghai  early  in  June,  and 
when  his  colleagues  were  assembled,  took  part  in  that  important 
work.     The  other  delegates  were  Drs.  Medhurst,  Boone,  Bridirman. 


WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE.  299 

and  Mr.  J.  Stronach.  He  bad  supposed  that  the  convention  would 
not  sit  more  than  six  or  seven  weeks,  but  it  was  soon  found  tliat  a 
much  longer  time  would  be  required.  After  a  week's  labour,  the 
convention  were  arrested  by  the  question,  what  is  the  proper  word 
for  God  in  the  Chinese?  Harrison  and  Milne  had  adopted  the  word 
Shin,  as  meaning  God  or  divinity  in  general.  Medhurst  at  first 
used  the  same  word;  but  afterwards  chose  the  term  Shangii,  which 
means  Supreme  ruler.  Mr.  Gutzlaff  did  the  same;  and  under  their 
influence  the  latter  term  was  the  one  in  common  use  among  the 
missionaries.  It  was,  however,  objected  to:  first,  as  being  the  title 
of,  the  national  deity;  and  secondly,  because  it  is  not  a  general  term, 
and  cannot  be  used  in  such  passages  as  'Jehovah  our  God.'  Dr. 
Medhurst  and  Mr.  Stronach  took  decided  ground  for  jShangti,  and 
Drs.  Boone  and  Bridgman  and  Mr.  L.  for  Shiny  The  controversy 
as  to  which  should  be  chosen,  lasted  for  a  long  time. 

At  Shanghai,  Mr.  L.  continued  his  Chinese  studies  much  as  at 
Ningpo.  On  Saturday  the  14th  of  August  he  received  a  letter  from 
his  brethren  at  Ningpo,  requesting  him  to  join  them  immediately. 
On  Monday  the  16th,  with  two  of  his  servants,  he  set  out  by  canal  to 
Chapoo.  They  reached  that  place  on  the  18th.  A  regular  passenger- 
boat  to  Ningpo  was  engaged,  and  early  on  the  19th  they  set  sail. 
The  wind  was  contrary,  and  they  were  compelled  to  beat.  They  had 
scarcely  gone  twelve  miles,  when  suddenly  a  vessel  was  seen  bearing 
down  upon  them  very  rapidly.  The  boatmen  and  passengers  were 
much  alarmed ;  but  Mr.  L.  endeavoured  to  allay  their  fears.  As  the 
vessel  came  near,  he  showed  a  small  American  flag;  but  they  still 
came  on.  It  proved  to  be  a  piratical  vessel.  As  soon  as  they  came 
alongside,  they  boarded  the  boat,  with  swords  and  spears;  and 
began  to  beat  and  thrust  all  in  their  way.  They  inflicted  no  injury, 
however,  upon  Mr.  L.  He  was  seated  on  a  box,  and  remained  quiet. 
When  they  were  breaking  open  a  trunk,  he  took  out  the  key  and 
gave  it  to  them.  They  continued  stripping  the  Chinese  of  every  thing, 
but  touched  nothing  of  Mr.  L.  Before  they  had  finished  plundering, 
however,  something  seemed  to  have  awakened  a  fear  in  their  minds, 
lest  when  he  reached  Shanghai,  they  should  be  reported  to  the 
authorities.  They  debated  for  a  time  whether  they  should  kill  him 
or  throw  him  alive  into  the  sea.  They  hastily  determined  upon  the 
latter,  and  two  men  seized  him,  but  being  unable  to  effect  their  pur- 
])ose,  another  came  to  their  assistance,  and  he  was  thrown  overboard. 
^\''hile  the  pirates  were  ransacking  the  boat,  he  was  engaged  reading 


300  WALTER    MACON    LOWRIE. 

his  Bible;  and  when  tliej^  drew  him  on  deck,  he  still  had  it  in  his 
hand.  As  they  were  casting  him  into  the  sea,  he  turned  partially 
around,  and  threw  his  Bible  upon  the  deck.  He  was  seen  several 
times  as  if  he  would  struggle  towards  the  boat;  but  as  one  of  the 
pirates  stood  ready  to  strike  him,  if  he  should  approach,  he  desisted, 
and  soon  sank.  Such  was  the  end  of  that  beloved  man.  His  work 
was  done,  and  God  took  him  to  his  rest. 

We  have  no  room  to  quote  the  pious  expression  of  his  missionary 
brethren,  which  this  sudden  death  called  forth.  He  was  regarded 
by  every  one  as  eminently  qualified  for  the  work  in  which  he  was 
engaged.  His  disposition  was  amiable;  his  talents  were  of  a  high 
order;  he  was  in  earnest  in  what  he  undertook;  his  energy  and 
perseverance  were  remarkable;  his  piety  was  cheerful,  "enlightened 
and  profound."  He  was  well  fitted  to  meet  and  overcome  the 
difficulties  which  he  himself  so  truthfully  and  eloquently  describes. 
"No  one  in  China,"  says  Bishop  Boone,  "promised  to  do  more  for 
the  cause  of  our  Divine  Master  than  he.  Just  called  by  his  breth- 
ren's choice  to  a  participation  in  the  work  of  revising  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Scriptures,  this  call  was  having  the  happiest  effect  in 
overcoming  his  disposition  to  modest  retirement,  and  making  him 
feel  the  necessity  that  was  laid  upon  him,  to  take  a  more  prominent 
stand  among  those  whose  attainments  in  the  language  qualified 
them  to  participate  in  all  of  a  general  character  that  was  doing  to 
advance  the  Saviour's  cause.  He  was  daily  growing  in  power,  and 
the  field  of  usefulness  was  continually  opening  wider  and  wider 
before  him;  but  God  had  work  for  him  above  this  vale  of  tears, 
and  now  leaves  us  mourning  and  sorrowing,  to  do  the  great  work 
without  his  aid.  Dearly  as  I  know  he  was  loved  by  the  mission 
with  which  he  was  connected,  yet  I  believe  no  one  in  China  mourns 
his  loss  as  I  do.  We  were  together  daily  for  two  months  and  a 
half — ^labouring  together  in  what  we  both  believed  to  be  the  most 
important  matter  connected  with  our  Master's  cause  in  China,  with 
which  we  had  ever  been  connected.  We  had  promised  each  other, 
if  my  life  was  spared,  to  do  much  together  to  set  the  plain  doctrines 
of  the  cross,  by  means  of  tracts,  before  this  people;  but,  alas!  he  is 
not,  for  God  has  taken  him." 


£'•1!  •- h.- yl  a FiiJdt 


DAVID    ABEEL. 


Pleasing  as  may  be  the  task  of  him  whose  duty  it  becomes  to 
chronicle  the  acts  of  the  Christian  Missionary,  a  serious  drawback 
is  often  felt  in  the  paucity  of  materials  from  which  to  give  a  true 
record  of  the  daily  life  of  such  an  one,  during  the  most  active  and 
useful  portion  of  his  existence. 

The  existing  biography  of  Mr.  Abeel,  prepared  by  his  nephew, 
is,  in  fact,  but  little  more  than  a  collation  from  his  private  diary 
and  correspondence.  As  in  the  case  of  most  missionaries  who  spend 
their  lives  in  foreign  lands,  there  are  none  to  tell  us  of  their  labours 
and  their  daily  warfare  with  trials  and  discouragements,  or  of  the 
absolute  result  of  their  self-denying  labours — these  can  only  be  seen 
by  an  Omniscitent  God.  A  glance,  however,  at  the  character  of 
such  a  man  as  Mr.  Abeel,  is  not  without  its  uses,  even  though  we 
are  unable  to  follow  him  through  all  his  course  of  toil,  and  to  wit- 
ness those  conflicts  and  victories  over  sin,  which  are  ever  incidental 
to  the  life  of  the  faithful  Missionary  of  the  cross. 

David  Abeel  was  born  in  the  city  of  New-Brunswick,  in  the 
State  of  New-Jersey,  June  12th,  1804.  His  grandfather,  James 
Abeel,  was  of  Dutch  descent,  his  family  having  originally  came  from 
Amsterdam,  in  Holland.  He  was  himself  a  resident  of  the  city  of 
New-York,  and  was  for  some  time  a  deputy  quarter-master  in  the 
Continental  Army.  David  Abeel,  senior,  father  to  the  subject  of 
our  notice,  was  a  brother  of  the  Eev.  John  N.  Abeel,  (well  known 
as  a  pastor  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church,)  and  was  himself  an 
officer  in  the  United  States'  navy,  during  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  Revolutionary  War.  His  character  was  that  of  an  upright,  wor- 
thy and  strictly  moral  man ; — and  so  distinguished  was  he  for  his 
intrepid  bravery  during  the  war,  that  he  was  included  among  the 
few  who  received  the  special  thanks  of  Congress  for  their  zealous 
and  patriotic  devotion  to  the  service  of  their  country.  He  married 
Jane  Hassert,  of  New-Brunswick,  the  mother  of  our  subject,  a 
woman  of  peculiar  excellence  of  character,  and  deeply  imbued  with 
all  the  Christian  graces. 


302  DAVID    ABEEL. 

The  mind  of  young  Abeel  seems  to  have  partaken,  even  in  child- 
hood, of  the  character  of  both  parents,  and  hence  we  find  his  boyish 
traits  to  have  been  a  fondness  for  field  sports  and  manly  exercises,  a 
high  sense  of  honour,  great  generosity,  and  strong  attachment  to  hi.s 
friends.  His  buoyancy  of  spirits  and  cheerfulness  were  also  notice- 
able, and  became  of  great  service  to  him  in  after-life,  in  meeting  the 
various  trials  and  discouragements  to  which  he  was  exposed. 

As  might  naturally  be  expected  from  his  early  mental  associations 
and  general  tastes,  he  early  conceived  a  predilection  for  the  profes- 
sion of  arms,  and  when  fifteen  years  of  age,  he  made  application  for 
admission  to  the  Military  Academy  at  West  Point.  Happilj^  for  the 
cause  to  which  he  has  proved  so  bright  an  ornament,  obstacles  were 
interposed  to  his  success  in  this  attempt,  and  he  was  induced  to 
withdraw  his  application,  though  bitterly  disappointed  by  the  neces- 
sities of  the  case. 

Having  been  led  to  relinquish  his  favourite  plan,  Mr.  Abeel 
commenced  the  study  of  medicine  as  a  profession.  Up  to  this 
period,  we  have  no  evidence  that  he  had  been  the  subject  of  any 
marked  religious  impressions,  or  that  his  mind  was  particularly 
directed  to  the  great  truths  of  salvation.  After  having  pursued  his 
medical  studies  for  nearly  a  year,  however,  the  appeals  of  the  gospel 
found  their  way  to  his  heart,  and  his  soul  became  filled  with  all  the 
horrors  which  proceed  from  the  chidings  of  an  awakened  conscience. 
His  agony  became  insupportable,  and  his  convictions  were  so  power- 
ful that  he  at  one  time  feared  he  had  committed  the  unpardonable 
sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  Long  and  sadly  he  groped  in  darkness, 
thick  clouds  surrounded  him,  and  it  was  only  by  slow  degrees  that 
light  broke  in  upon  his  troubled  soul,  and  his  doubts  and  perplexi- 
ties receded  under  the  clear  radiance  of  gospel  truths  and  par- 
doning grace. 

Of  the  change  which  took  place  in  the  character  of  Mr.  Abeel  at 
the  period  of  his  conversion,  his  friends  bear  abundant  testimony. 
Then  it  was  that  he  commenced  to  Uve^  and  evinced  his  desire,  by 
an  unreserved  consecration  of  himself,  to  put  on  the  whole  armour 
of  God,  and  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in  His  service.  From 
that  moment  the  chief  desire  of  his  heart  seems  to  have  been  to 
know  the  will  of  his  Heavenly  Father,  and  how  he  might  best  pro- 
mote his  cause.  The  path  of  duty  seemed  at  length  to  reveal  itself 
to  him,  and  with  conscientious  promptness  he  entered  upon  it,  and 
commenced  the  study  of  theology.     In  the  autumn  of  1823  he 


DAVID    ABEEL.  303 

entered  tlie  Tlieological  Seminary  at  New-Brunswick,  and  pursued 
his  studies  with  unremitting  industry  for  the  customary  period  of 
three  years.  While  in  the  Seminary  he  laboured  much  for  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  sick  and  poor  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
especially  at  the  alms-house,  where  he  was  wont  to  spend  much  of 
his  leisure  time,  labouring  by  prayer  and  exhortation  for  the  good 
of  the  inmates. 

Of  his  religious  progress  while  pursuing  his  studies  we  learn  from 
his  diarj^,  his  constant  and  unwavering  devotion  to  the  great  pur- 
pose of  his  existence,  and  his  longings  after  great  holiness.  The 
following  resolution  with  his  signature  attached  was  made  during 
this  period,  and  subsequently  found  among  his  papers : 

"  Conscious  of  the  importance  of  making  an  unreserved  surrender 
of  myself  to  Him,  under  the  service  of  whose  banner  I  have  enlisted, 
I  would  solemnly  determine  [not  in  my  own  strength,  but  by  the 
cooperation  and  restraining  influence  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  in  whom 
alone  I  trust,]  on  this  15th  of  September,  1825,  henceforth  to 
renounce  every  known  sin,  though  it  cost  me  the  pain  of  plucking 
out  an  eye,  or  cutting  off  a  hand,  and  of  living,  as  far  as  possible,  a 
life  consistent  with  my  high  vocation.  May  the  Lord  grant  me  his 
strength,  and  the  glor}^  shall  be  given  to  himl" 

On  the  20th  of  April,  1826,  Mr.  Abeel  was  licensed  to  preach, 
and  the  entries  made  in  his  journal  at  this  time  show  with  what 
misgivings  and  self-distrust  he  entered  upon  the  work  of  the  minis- 
try ;  and  his  fervent  invocations  of  Divine  aid  in  the  arduous  work, 
clearly  indicate  alike  a  sense  of  his  own  weakness  and  his  strong 
confidence  in  the  sustaining  power  of  God. 

About  the  1st  of  June,  of  the  same  year,  he  was  settled  as  the 
pastor  of  a  church  in  the  town  of  Athens,  Greene  county,  N.  Y., 
and  for  two  years  and  a  half  he  continued  to  labour  here  for  the 
welfare  of  souls,  with  a  zeal  and  energy  commensurate  with  the 
weight  of  responsibility  which  he  felt  to  be  resting  upon  him.  From 
the  first  of  his  settlement  in  Athens  he  was  impelled  onward  in  the 
discharge  of  his  duties  by  a  burning,  resistless  desire  for  an  out- 
pouring of  God's  spirit  upon  the  people  of  his  charge. 

Of  his  faithfulness  and  untiring  devotion  to  the  work  of  his 
Master,  much  might  be  said,  but  a  single  remark,  made  by  one  in 
whose  house  he  resided  while  at  Athens,  must  serve  to  illustrate  his 
manner  of  life:  "I  never  knew  him  to  sit  with  the  family,  or  even 
10  pass  through  the  room  in  which  they  were   engaged,  without 


804  DAVID    ABEEL. 

making  some  remarks  of  a  religious  character — saying  something 
to  impress  the  mind  with  its  importance." 

One  thus  devoted  to  his  Master's  service  could  hardly  fail  to 
receive  some  tokens  of  his  approbation,  and  accordingly  we  find  an 
almost  continuous  spirit  of  inquiry  among  his  people  daring  the 
whole  period  of  his  ministry,  and  constant  accessions  to  his  church. 
It  is  a  highly  gratifying  and  somewhat  remarkable  fact,  that  of  the 
large  number  gathered  in  under  the  labours  of  this  faithful  pastor, 
not  a  single  instance  occurred  of  a  return  to  the  things  of  earth,  but 
in  every  case  they  were  sustained  in  the  Christian  course  they  had 
thus  begun. 

It  should  have  been  before  stated  that  in  October,  1826,  five 
months  after  his  settlement  at  Athens,  Mr.  Abeel  was  ordained  as 
an  Evangelist  by  the  Classis  of  Kensselaer,  and  his  labours  were  by 
no  means  confined  to  his  own  people,  but  he  visited  neighbouring 
congregations,  and  whenever  there  were  any  unusual  indications  of 
the  work  of  God's  Spirit,  his  presence  was  eagerly  sought  and 
highly  appreciated. 

Such  unremitting  labours  could  not  fail  to  produce  an  unfavour- 
able effect  on  a  physical  system  as  frail  as  his,  and  he  was  at  length 
compelled,  by  the  inroads  of  disease,  to  leave  the  people  of  his 
charge,  and  seek  in  change  of  scene  and  labour  relief  for  his  weak- 
ened and  debilitated  frame.  Bat  this  he  would  not  do  until  he  had 
found  a  successor  who  should  supply  his  place,  and  watch  over  those 
to  whom  he  could  himself  no  longer  minister.  Having  performed 
this  duty  in  a  manner  satisfactory  to  all  concerned,  Mr.  Abeel 
bade  adieu  to  his  charge,  and  at  the  instance  of  several  of  his 
friends,  he  embarked  for  the  island  of  St.  John's,  West  Indies, 
with  the  view  of  spending  the  winter  there  in  recruiting  his  health, 
and  at  the  same  time  preaching  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  island.  A 
government  order,  however,  prevented  the  execution  of  the  Litter  part 
of  his  plan,  except  for  a  few  weeks,  and  he  returned  to  ISTew-York  the 
following  spring,  where  he  spent  a  short  time  in  preaching  to  the  con- 
gregation of  the  Protestant  Reformed  Dutch  Church  in  Orchard  street. 

It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Mr.  Abeel  received  a  proposition 
from  the  Seaman's  Friend  Society,  and  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  that  he  should  go  out  to  Can- 
ton, to  see  what  could  be  done  in  behalf  of  sailors  visiting  that  port; 
and  also  in  behalf  of  that  portion  of  the  native  population  residing 
either  in  that  port,  or  other  accessible  ports  of  the  country. 


DAVID    ABEEL.  305 

The  subject  of  Foreign  Missions  was  by  no  means  a  new  one  to 
the  mind  of  Mr.  Abeel.  He  had  pondered  much  upon  it  while  a 
settled  pastor,  and  had  even  shown  a  strong  interest  in  the  cause. 
A  desire  had  existed  in  his  heart  to  labour  in  the  Holj  Land;  but 
his  was  a  mind  ever  open  to  what  he  considered  the  indications  of 
Providence,  and  this  proposition,  taken  in  connection  with  the 
appearance  of  certain  obstacles  to  his  entering  the  field  of  his  choice, 
induced  him,  in  common  with  his  friends,  to  feel  that  his  next  duty 
was  to  China.  This  decision  was  not  hastily  or  unadvisedly  formed 
— the  subject  had  been  one  of  much  earnest  prayer,  meditation,  and 
self-examination;  and  with  the  sincere  desire  to  know  and  do  his 
Master's  will,  he  set  about  preparations  for  his  errand  of  love. 

On  the  14th  of  October,  1829,  he  sailed  from  New- York  in  the 
ship  Roman,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Bridgman,  a  fellow-missionary. 
During  the  voyage,  the  attention  of  Mr.  Abeel  was  greatly  absorbed 
in  his  efforts  for  the  conversion  of  the  ofl&cers  and  seamen  connected 
with  the  vessel.  He  held  private  personal  interviews  with  each, 
furnished  them  with  suitable  religious  reading,  and  held  religious 
services  on  the  Sabbath.  His  health  during  this  period  was  exceed- 
ingly precarious,  and  he  was  frequently  oppressed  with  doubts  as  to 
his  duty  in  view  of  it.  Indeed,  he  was  so  disheartened  at  one  time  at 
the  prospect  of  reaching  China,  only  to  be  a  burden  to  the  Socie- 
ties that  had  employed  him,  that  he  had  nearly  resolved  to  stop  at 
the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  retrace  his  steps  in  a  homeward  direc- 
tion. He  determined  at  length,  however,  in  accordance  with  the 
advice  of  Mr.  Bridgman,  to  proceed,  and  leave  the  result  in  the 
hands  of  God.  They  reached  Canton  on  the  25th  of  February, 
1830,  and  were  kindly  greeted  by  Dr.  Morrison,  who,  for  upwards 
of  twenty  years,  bad  been  labouring  almost  unaided  in  this  field, 
and  whose  heart  overflowed  with  joy  at  this  accession  of  aid  to  the 
cause  in  which  he  had  been  so  long  engaged. 

Mr.  Abeel,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  primarily  engaged  in  the 
service  of  the  Seaman's  Friend  Society,  with  the  understanding, 
however,  that  he  Avas  ultimately  to  be  transferred  to  the  service  of 
the  American  Board.  Accordingly,  immediately  on  his  arrival  at 
Canton,  he  commenced  his  duties  as  seaman's  chaplain.  After 
a  course  of  labour,  of  nearly  a  year's  duration,  he  closed  his 
engagement  with  the  Seaman's  Friend  Society,  and  entered  upon 
his  engagement  under  the  American  Board.  Pursuant  to  his 
instructions,  he  sailed  from  Canton  upon  an  exploring  tour  to  Java, 
20 


306  DAVID    ABEEL. 

Malacca,  Siam,  and  the  islands  of  Eastern  Asia.  He  was  directed 
to  examine,  so  far  as  his  means  would  allow,  the  wants  and  condi- 
tion of  these  countries,  in  a  religious  point  of  view,  and  to  report 
upon  the  feasibility  of  establishing  missionary  stations  among  them. 

In  a  letter  written  to  his  parents,  about  this  time,  Mr.  Abeel  thus 
endeavours  to  cheer  their  minds,  concerning  the  dangers  to  which 
he  was  soon  to  be  exposed:  "Pray  dismiss  your  fears  about  my 
welfare.  I  am  in  the  hands  of  One  who  is  more  interested  in  my 
happiness  than  all  of  you,  and  who  will  protect  me  from  all  dan- 
gers, until  he  sees  proper  to  remove  me  beyond  their  influence. 
What  more  could  you  desire,  if  you  really  desire  my  best  interest? 
Oh,  how  we  mistake  on  these  points!  We  can  trust  our  senses 
farther  than  our  God;  and  every  calculation  we  attempt,  proceeds 
on  the  unwarranted  principle,  that  the  continuance  of  mortal  life  is 
more  desirable  than  the  enjoyment  of  heavenly  perfection  and  bliss. 
We  can  ask  no  more — we  can  possibly  desire  nothing  so  much,  as 
to  meet  in  the  presence  of  God,  and  spend  an  eternity  in  admiring 
and  praising  the  exceeding  compassion  and  grace  of  Him  who  has 
redeemed  us  with  his  own  blood,  and  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God!  Though  I  should  be,  as  you  may  suppose,  delighted  to 
meet  you  all  again  on  earth,  it  appears  a  matter  of  the  least  import- 
ance, if  we  dwell  together  for  ever." 

In  this  confiding,  hopeful  spirit,  Mr.  Abeel  continued  his  labours, 
intent  alone  upon  the  work  allotted  him.  Although  the  nature  of 
his  instructions  did  not  permit  him  long  to  labour  in  any  one  place 
at  this  time,  yet  the  united  testimony  of  his  Christian  brethren,  in 
those  places  where  he  was  permitted  to  tarry,  clearly  indicates  the 
healthful  and  cheering  influence  he  every  where  exerted.  It  was 
well  remarked  of  him,  that  "he  was  Catholic  in  his  spirit,  and 
though  attached  to  his  own  church,  he  was  a  friend  to  all  of  every 
name  who  loved  Jesus.     He  laboured  for  all,  and  he  prayed  for  all." 

About  two  years  and  a  half  were  thus  passed  by  Mr.  Abeel  in  the 
prosecution  of  his  investigations.  This  time  was  divided  between 
Batavia,  Siam,  and  Singapore,  together  with  repeated  journeys  to 
the  several  islands  of  the  Eastern  Archipelago,  whither  he  was  led 
in  part  by  his  desire  for  missionary  intelligence,  and  partly  with 
the  view  of  recruiting  his  failing  health.  The  limits  of  this  brief 
sketch  will  not  allow  of  an  extended  notice  of  these  labours,  and  a 
single  remark  in  regard  to  his  own  religious  state  must  suffice.  He 
was  during  this  period  often  sadly  depressed  in  his  spirits,  as  his 


DAVID    ABEEL.  807 

diary  would  indicate,  on  account  of  the  hidings  of  God's  counte- 
nance. He  often  groped  in  darkness,  and  mourned  over  his  spirit- 
ual trials,  but  never  for  one  moment  did  he  falter  in  his  desire  to 
know  and  to  do  his  Avhole  duty,  and  to  spend  his  all  in  the  work 
of  the  Lord. 

On  the  25th  of  May,  1833,  having  become  much  prostrated  by 
disease,  and  being  directed  by  the  Board  to  return  home,  he 
embarked  for  England,  and  arrived  the  following  October — much 
improved  in  health  and  strength.  Here,  and  upon  the  Continent,  he 
passed  nearly  a  year  by  the  advice  of  his  medical  friends,  travelling 
through  France,  Germany,  Holland,  and  Switzerland,  procuring  mis- 
sionary information,  and  endeavouring  to  awaken  a  spirit  of  coopera- 
tion among  the  evangelical  churches  in  behalf  of  the  cause  of  missions. 

He  sailed  for  America  in  August,  1834,  and  on  his  arrival  at  once 
set  himself  about  the  advancement  of  the  missionary  cause,  by  every 
means  in  his  power.  He  went  about  from  place  to  place,  through 
various  sections  of  the  United  States,  visited  theological  institu- 
tions, attempting  to  infuse  the  missionary  spirit  into  the  minds  of 
professors  of  religion,  ministers,  theological  students,  and,  indeed,  of 
all  he  might  meet,  of  every  name.  Many  evidences  exist  of  the  good 
results  which  attended  this  part  of  his  labours,  and  many  still  remem- 
ber the  healthful  impulse  given  by  his  presence  to  the  progress 
of  religion  in  those  institutions  among  which  he  divided  his  time. 
Having  never  abandoned  the  intention  of  returning  to  China,  when- 
ever his  health  would  permit,  the  succeeding  two  years  were  spent 
by  him  in  alternate  hope  and  fear,  lest  his  physical  infirmities  should 
preclude  his  further  labours. 

At  length,  however,  he  was  permitted  by  his  medical  advisers 
to  try  the  experiment  of  a  return,  and  in  October,  1838,  he  sailed 
again  for  Canton,  in  company  with  other  missionaries,  and  arrived 
in  February,  1839,  after  an  absence  of  eight  years.  After  a  short 
period  of  labour  at  Canton  and  Macao,  an  unexpected  impediment 
to  all  missionary  efforts  arose,  in  the  difficulties  which  occurred  at 
this  time,  between  the  Chinese  and  British  Government,  on  the 
opium-trade.  The  war  which  grew  out  of  these  difficulties,  how- 
ever beneficial  it  may  have  proved  in  its  results,  in  opening  a  more 
free  and  unrestrained  passage  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  among 
the  Chinese,  was,  at  this  time,  a  source  of  much  hindrance  and 
embarassment  to  the  cause,  and  compelled  the  missionaries  almost 
wliolly  to  suspend  their  labours. 


36B  DAVID    ABEEL. 

Pursuant  to  bis  instructions,  Mr.  Abeel  nqw  turned  his  attention 
to  the  religious  interests  of  the  Eastern  Archipelago.  He  visited 
Borneo,  Malacca,  Java,  and  also  spent  some  time  at  Amoy,  Ko- 
longsoo,  and  Singapore.  Ilis  time  was  chiefly  taken  up  in  visiting 
these  and  other  places,  that  gave  promise  of  affording  facilities  for 
the  introduction  of  the  gospel. 

During  a  stay  of  some  months  at  Singapore,  he  acted  as  chaplain 
to  the  English  chapel,  and  also  preached  every  Sabbath  in  the  Chi- 
nese language.  His  labours  here  as  in  other  places  were  highly 
valued  by  those  who  witnessed  them,  and  were  most  salutarj  in  their 
effect.  At  Kolongsoo  and  Amoy,  his  labours  were  great  and  unceas- 
ing. Although  compelled  by  feeble  health  to  such  a  frequent  change 
of  plan,  his  journeyings  were  always  made  in  some  way  subservient 
to  the  great  work  in  which  his  whole  soul  was  engaged;  thus  we 
find  him  occupied  in  his  wanderings  in  the  distribution  of  religious 
books,  and  in  personal  conversation  with  individuals  when  he  was 
unable  from  circumstances  to  address  a  large  number  together.  For 
a  period  of  five  years  he  was  permitted  to  labour  thus  in  the  field 
of  his  choice ;  but  at  length  exhausted  nature  could  do  no  more,  and 
the  stern  mandate  of  necessity  compelled  him  to  abandon  the  work, 
and  seek  again  the  land  of  his  childhood  before  the  last  sands  of 
his  fading  life  should  be  wholly  exhausted. 

He  embarked  for  New-York  in  January,  1845,  "doubtful,"  as  he 
remarks  in  his  diary,  "  which  home  I  should  reach  firstr  His  home 
was  changed.  During  his  absence,  both  father  and  mother  had  been 
removed  from  earth,  and  there  was  much  of  sadness  that  mingled 
with  the  pleasure  of  being  surrounded  once  more  by  surviving 
relatives.  His  bodily  infirmities  were  great,  and  at  times  his  suf- 
ferings were  hardly  to  be  borne.  His  time  was  chiefly  passed  in 
devotional  exercises,  and  he  seemed  but  little  affected  by  any 
worldly  considerations. 

As  the  close  of  his  life  drew  near,  his  sufferings  increased,  and  in 
like  proportion  his  hopes  grew  brighter.  His  death  was  regarded 
by  him  with  perfect  composure,  and  spoken  of  as  freely  as  any  other 
topic.  He  made  a  perfect  disposition  of  all  his  affairs,  and  arranged 
pvery  thing,  even  to  the  spot  where  his  remains  should  be  interred. 
Shortly  before  his  death,  his  agony  became  excruciating,  so  much  so 
that  he  would  permit  no  one  of  his  friends  to  be  present  in  his  room 
except  his  physician.  Calmly  he  awaited  the  final  moment  in  close 
communion  with  his  Maker.     "His  last  wish  was  to  be  left  undis- 


DAVID    ABEEL.  309 

turbed.  Before  his  death,  his  sufferings  ceased,  and  he  lay  as  in  a 
gentle  slumber  till  he  died.  No  groan  or  sigh  was  heard.  He  fell 
asleep  in  Jesus." 

The  last  record  in  his  diary,  made  about  ten  days  before  his  death, 
is  worthy  of  preservation,  as  it  exhibits  the  peaceful  state  of  mind 
which  it  is  the  exclusive  privilege  of  the  Christian  to  enjoy  as  he 
looks  upon  his  approaching  end: 

"August  20,  1846. — Wonderfully  preserved !  With  a  kind  and 
degree  of  disease  that  generally  has  a  speedy  issue,  I  live  on.  All 
things  are  mine,  God  sustains  me  through  wearisome  days  and 
tedious,  painful  nights.  Simple  faith  in  his  word  keeps  my  mind 
in  peace,  but  he  generously  adds  strong  consolation.  When  I 
embarked  for  home,  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  chapter  of  Hebrews 
was  blessed  to  the  production  of  the  assurance  of  hope  or  something 
a-kin  to  it.  I  have  not  lost  it.  Death  has  no  sting.  Oh,  may  the 
Conqueror  continue  with  me  to  the  close!  and  then " 

Thus  the  diary  closes,  and  we  have  reason  for  the  belief  that  the 
prayer  of  the  dying  saint  was  fully  answered,  and  that  the  Holy 
Comforter  was  with  him  to  the  last.  His  death  occurred  September 
4th,  1846,  at  the  age  of  forty-two  years. 

It  is  a  pleasant  and  a  profitable  thing  to  study  the  character  of 
such  a  man  as  David  Abeel,  for  we  may  draw  from  it  a  lesson  use- 
ful to  all.  In  the  ordinarj^  acceptation  of  the  term,  Mr.  Abeel  was 
not  a  (/?-ea^  man.  Although  possessed  of  talents  of  no  mean  order, 
his  genius  was  not  a  towering  one,  and  his  attainments  were  not 
superior  to  those  of  many  other  men  who  would  rank  far  below  him 
in  point  of  usefulness.  Sound  judgment,  and  the  power  of  mental 
application,  he  had  to  an  eminent  degree,  and  his  steady,  inflexible 
perseverance  alone  carried  him  through  the  great  amount  of  literary 
toil  to  which  he  was  subjected  in  the  study  of  the  various  languages 
he  acquired  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  during  his  life.  What  he 
lacked  in  brilliancy  of  intellect  was  abundantly  compensated  for  in 
its  strength  and  force,  and  the  clearness  and  accuracy  of  his  reason- 
ing gave  ample  proof  of  his  powers  of  discrimination.  He  had  a 
critical  acquaintance  with  several  languages,  and  of  the  Chinese  he 
acquired  a  command  that  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of  very  few,  except 
natives  of  the  countr3^  The  Siamese  and  Malay  languages  he  also 
learned,  so  as  to  use  them  with  much  fluency  and  ease.     He  used  to 


ulO  DAVID    ABEEL. 

say  that  mucli  of  his  success  in  learning  the  Chinese  language  was 
attributable  to  the  correctness  and  delicacy  of  his  musical  ear,  and 
he  remarked  frequently  that  no  one  ought  ever  to  attempt  the 
study  of  this  language  who  had  not  a  nice  ear,  and  the  power  of 
distinguishing  with  accuracy  between  similar  sounds.  When  it  is 
remembered,  in  connection  with  what  he  accomplished,  how  feeble 
was  his  health,  how  many  were  the  obstacles  he  encountered,  and 
how  few  the  advantages  he  possessed,  it  will  be  obvious  that  nothing 
but  a  vigorous  determination  and  an  indefatigable  industry  could 
have  sustained  him.  His  writings  are  distinguished  for  their  clear- 
ness and  simplicity,  partaking  much  of  the  character  of  his  mind,  and 
exhibiting  forcibly  its  leading  characteristics. 

The  chief  of  his  published  works  are  a  description  of  life  in  China 
and  other  parts  of  Asia,  published  in  1835,  and  a  volume  entitled 
"The  Claims  of  the  World  to  the  Gospel."  Eev.  Dr.  AVyckoff,  in 
his  funeral  discourse  on  Mr.  Abeel,  remarks:  "His  'Residence  in 
China'  discovers  a  quick  apprehension  and  a  just  perception  of  the 
beautiful  and  repulsive  in  nature  and  in  morals.  His  'Discussion  on 
Missions'  bespeaks  close  discrimination,  "accurate  representation,  with 
candid  and  powerful  argumentation." 

His  sermons,  his  biographer  remarks,  were  prepared  with  much  care, 
it  being  his  practice  to  select  his  subject  on  the  first  day  of  the  week, 
and  to  meditate  upon  it  much  before  presenting  it  to  his  hearers,  that, 
understanding  and  feeling  more  deeply  its  force,  he  might  the  better 
bring  it  home  to  the  hearts  of  others.  His  preaching  was  eminently 
practical  and  direct.  His  manner  was  highly  prepossessing,  and  cal- 
culated to  fix  the  attention;  at  the  same  time  there  was  an  utter 
absence  of  all  affectation,  and  the  listener  could  not  but  feel  that 
the  rich,  mellow  voice  to  which  he  was  attending  did  indeed  speak 
forth  "the  words  of  truth  and  soberness." 

He  preached  during  the  greater  part  of  his  life  abroad  every 
Sabbath,  and  acted,  as  stated  above,  as  chaplain  at  Singapore  and 
Canton,  as  well  as  at  Kolongsoo.  His  ministrations  were  uniformly 
received  with  favour,  and  his  deep  earnestness  of  purpose  and  sin- 
gleness of  heart  won  for  him  friends  wherever  he  was  stationed. 

But  the  key  to  his  success,  not  only  as  a  preacher  of  the  everlast- 
ing Gospel,  but  also  in  his  other  undertakings,  was  his  deep  and 
ardent  piety.  Few  probably  enter  upon  the  Christian  course  with 
a  higher  standard  of  personal  holiness,  or  more  extended  views  of 
the  nature  of  true  sanctification.     God's  Holy  Word,  and  this  alone, 


DAVID    ABEEL.  311 

was  the  test  by  which  he  sought  to  measure  every  thought,  word 
and  deed.  Not  content  with  the  limited  attainments  of  common 
Christians,  he  aimed  to  adopt  as  his  only  criterion  the  example  of 
his  Saviour,  and  to  make  His  life  and  character  his  only  model  for 
imitation.  To  this  end  he  was  wont  to  spend  much  time  in  the 
critical  study  of  the  Bible.  "lie  studied  it,"  says  his  biographer, 
"on  his  knees,  with  a  teachable  spirit.  For  days  he  would  pore  over 
some  precious  passage  or  chapter  until  his  soul  was  filled  with  its 
spirit.  He  would  often  peruse  it  in  many  different  languages,  that, 
to  use  his  own  expression,  he  might  perhaps  find  some  beauty  or 
striking  thought  in  one  translation  or  version,  which  was  not  in 
another. 

"Wherever  he  went,  the  Bible  was  his  companion,  and  as  often 
as  opportunity  offered  in  his  journey ings,  he  would  refresh  and 
strengthen  his  soul  by  its  perusal,  and  thus  preserve  himself  from 
the  power  of  worldly  influence.  In  his  hours  of  sickness  it  was  his 
delight  to  comment  on  different  portions  of  the  "Word  while  some 
person  would  read  it  to  him  slowly.  And  after  his  strength  failed, 
the  study  of  the  Bible  was  the  chief  source  of  his  consolation." 

Of  such  an  one  it  might  be  safely  predicated  that  he  lived  near 
to  God,  and  that  the  place  of  secret  prayer  would  be  constantly 
sought  by  him.  This  was  indeed  the  case,  and  of  no  one  could  it 
be  more  truly  said,  that  "he  was  a  man  of  prayer." 

His  strict  views  of  Christian  responsibility  brought  him  to  a  deep 
sense  of  his  dependence  on  Divine  assistance  in  the  daily  trials  of 
life,  and  be  loved  to  recognise  his  highest  privilege  in  his  daily 
intercourse  with  his  God,  His  were  not  the  hurried  prayers  and 
the  slighted  devotions  of  a  few  grudged  moments  taken  perforce 
from  the  pursuit  of  more  genial  avocations;  but  the  appointed  sea- 
sons were  hailed  with  peculiar  delight;  when  he  might  withdraw 
himself  from  the  surrounding  world,  and  in  the  stillness  of  his  closet 
commune  alone  with  Him  who  seeth  in  secret.  When  a  student  in  the 
Theological  Seminary,  it  is  related  of  him  that  in  a  wood  adjacent 
to  the  institution,  in  a  retired  spot,  he  prepared  a  place  to  which  he 
might  repair  for  prayer  and  self-examination  unmolested  by  distrac- 
tions calculated  to  divert  his  mind  from  contemplation.  Here  would 
he  spend  hours  in  close  communion  with  God  and  his  own  heart, 
in  deep  abasement  on  account  of  his  short  comings,  and  in  humble 
renewal  of  his  vows  of  consecration.  He  loved  his  closet,  for  it  was 
after  such  seasons  of  wrestling  with  God  that  he  would  come  forth, 


312  DAVID    ABEEL. 

his  countenance  radiant  with  light  from  above,  and  his  heart  imbued 
with  a  portion  of  that  love  that  passeth  all  understanding.  Thus  it 
was  that  obstacles  vanished  before  him,  his  mind  was  strengthened, 
his  hopes  revived,  and  he  could  with  renewed  energy  press  forward 
in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  Truly  did  he  recognise,  in  the  fulness  of 
its  force,  the  injunction,  "that  men  ought  always  to  pray,  and  not 
to  faint." 

With  a  mind  so  thoroughly  imbued  with  a  sense  of  dependence 
on  a  superior  power,  and  a  heart  so  fully  alive  to  the  duty  of  self- 
exertion,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Mr.  Abeel  should  have  been  the 
holy  man  that  he  was,'  or  that  with  a  faith  like  his,  he  should  have 
been  sustained  through  trials  and  obstacles  that  would  have  made 
stronger  men  to  quail  before  them;  but  his  was  that  faith  that 
entereth  within  the  vail,  and  trials  and  difficulties  were  of  little 
moment  to  him,  while  he  could  feel  that  he  was  leaning  on  the  arm 
of  an  all-sustaining  God.  His  example  furnishes  us  with  a  new 
illustration  of  the  power  and  willingness  of  our  Heavenly  Father 
to  preserve  unto  the  end  those  whom  he  has  appointed  to  serve 
him.  It  shows  us  how  moral  strength  can  triumph  over  physical 
weakness,  and  how  much  a  spirit  of  self-devotion  and  persevering 
energy  can  do  to  atone  for  the  disabilities  of  a  feeble  frame  and 
precarious  state  of  health.  It  furnishes  us  with  another  example 
of  exalted  piety,  faithful  diligence  in  the  path  of  duty,  and  unfal- 
tering trust  in  the  promises  of  a  Divine  Eedeemer.  It  shows  us 
the  converting  and  sanctifying  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  reclaim- 
ing to  the  service  of  God  a  weak  and  sinful  child  of  Adam,  and  in 
leading  him  by  mysterious  providences  through  a  useful  life  and  a 
triumphant  death,  to  a  place  amid  the  throng  of  angels  and  spirits 
of  the  just  made  perfect,  that  chant  the  song  of  redeeming  love 
around  the  eternal  throne. 


MUNSON    AND    LYMAN. 


The  union  of  these  men  in  labours,  and  in  death,  as  well  as  the 
affectionate  harmony  which  uniformly  bound  them  together  in  life, 
and  blended  their  active  career  inseparably  into  one,  are  sufficient 
reasons  for  their  juxtaposition  in  this  sketch. 

Samuel  Mcnson  was  born  in  New-Sharon,  Maine,  March  23, 
180-4.  He  was  the  subject  of  careful  religious  instruction  in  child- 
hood, and  his  conscience,  naturally  tender,  responded  to  the  truth, 
at  times  with  no  little  energy.  At  ten  years  of  age  he  lost  both 
his  parents,  and  was  received  into  the  family  of  a  friend,  where  his 
amiable  temper  and  exemplary  good  conduct  greatly  endeared  him 
to  those  who  had  so  befriended  him  in  his  orphanage.  A  frank  and 
winning  deportment,  strict  integrity,  mild  decision,  and  an  aptitude 
for  steady  application,  made  him  a  favourite  alike  with  his  teachers 
and  playmates.  At  nineteen  he  gave  satisfactory  evidence  of  piety. 
No  detailed  account  of  his  religious  impressions  at  that  time  has 
been  preserved.  His  hopes  at  first  were  mingled  with  many  fears, 
but  his  character  bore  the  evident  impress  of  a  thorough  Christian 
experience,  and  he  was  admitted  to  the  communion  of  the  church 
in  September,  1823. 

His  mind  was  very  soon  directed  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and 
to  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  among  the  heathen.  But  he  had  no 
pecuniary  resources,  and  knew  not  how  to  proceed.  He  was  received 
under  the  patronage  of  the  Maine  branch  of  the  Education  Society, 
but  its  funds  were  scanty,  and  the  amount  he  received  from  that 
source  was  entirely  insufficient  to  defray  the  expense  of  a  liberal 
education.  A  clerical  friend  gave  him  gratuitous  instruction  for  a 
few  months,  and  he  succeeded  in  borrowing  the  necessary  books. 
He  taught  common  schools  at  intervals,  and  between  leaving  Farm- 
ington  and  entering  Bowdoin  College  laboured  for  a  time  on  a  farm. 
Through  his  whole  college  course  he  suffered  from  pecuniary  embar- 


S14:  MUNSON    AND    LYMAN. 

rassmeiit,  and  unwilling  to  draw  unnecessarily  on  the  funds  of.  the 
Education  Society,  his  wants  were  always  under-stated.  He  under- 
went many  privations,  which  he  bore  with  the  greater  cheerfulness, 
in  view  of  his  desired  sphere  of  labour.  Still,  discouragement  some- 
times overtook  him.  "Nothing  now  lies  before  me,"  he  writes,  "but 
a  dreary,  dubious  struggle.  Were  it  not  that  I  am  persuaded  the 
hand  of  God  has  brought  me  thus  far,  and  still  points  onward,  I 
should  seek  a  refuge  in  the  bosom  of  my  friends." 

Mr.  Munson  was  not  distinguished  in  college  for  quickness  of 
perception  or  ease  in  acquiring  knowledge.  But  he  was  a  patient 
scholar,  with  a  solid  and  accurate  judgment,  and  a  temper  habitually 
cautious.  He  was  comparatively  slow  in  forming  a  decision,  and 
tenacious  in  adhering  to  it.  Hence,  though  not  of  a  superior  stand- 
ing as  a  scholar,  he  thoroughly  comprehended  his  studies  as  far  as 
he  went,  and  commanded  a  high  degree  of  respect.  The  turn  of 
his  mind  was  contemplative,  his  sensibilities  were  tender,  but  the 
main-spring  of  his  conduct  was  not  in  moods  and  feelings.  A  sense 
of  duty  made  him  active  in  every  good  work,  and  besides  the  con- 
scientious discharge  of  his  academic  duties,  he  was  often  found 
in  the  abodes  of  disease  and  want,  and  gathered  a  Sabbath  school 
that  grew  and  prospered  under  his  faithful  superintendence. 

On  the  termination  of  his  college  course  in  1829,  he  entered  the 
Theological  Seminary  at  Andover,  Mass.  The  diligent  and  system- 
atic habits  he  had  formed,  enabled  him  not  only  to  pursue,  with 
uncommon  thoroughness,  the  stated  branches  of  biblical  and  theo- 
logical stud}^,  but  to  enrich  his  mind  by  continued  application  to 
studies  that  are  very  generally  relinquished  after  leaving  college, 
and  by  independent  investigations  in  every  accessible  department 
of  useful  knowledge.  Such  were  his  ideas  of  the  ministerial  and 
missionary  work,  that  he  would  have  been  unfaithful  to  his  sense 
of  duty  had  he  neglected  any  possible  means  of  mental  and  spiritual 
culture.  He  gave  daily  proof  of  sterling,  unaffected,  all-controlling 
piety,  combined  with  sober  good  sense,  exhibiting  a  symmetrical 
union  of  zeal  and  discretion, — shrinking  from  every  thing  ostenta- 
tious, but  from  nothing,  however  arduous,  that  legitimately  appealed 
to  his  conscience  and  judgment. 

The  associations  connected  with  Andover,  as  the  scene  of  those 
counsels  out  of  which  American  missions  to  the  heathen  directly 
sprung,  could  not  fail  to  quicken  those  desires  which  had  impelled 
him  from  an  early  ]3criod  in  his  religious  history.     But  in  nothing 


MUNSON    AND    LYMAX,  315 

is  tlie  sobriety  of  bis  cbaracter  more  strikingly  manifest,  tban  in  tbe 
discriminating  view  be  took  of  tbis  subject  as  respected  bis  personal 
duty.  "Tbere  is  a  novelty,"  be  remarks,  "connected  witb  tbe  mis- 
sionary life, — a  voyage  across  tbe  ocean, — a  tour  perbaps  among  tbe 
ruins  of  ancient  Greece,  or  a  visit  to  tbe  land  wbicb  was  tbe  tbeatre 
of  our  Saviour's  mission,  and  tbe  city  over  wbicb  be  wept, — or  per- 
baps an  abode  in  some  remote,  yet  beautiful  island  in  tbe  Pacific, 
wbere  nature  bas  lent  all  ber  cbarms  to  give  elegance  and  encbant- 
ment  to  ber  luxuries:  sucb  prospects,  connected  witb  tbe  success  tbat 
bas  attended  tbe  missionary  effort,  and  tbe  urgent  call  for  more 
labourers,  bave  at  times  so  wrougbt  upon  my  feelings,  tbat  I  bave 
tbougbt  I  could  stay  bere  no  longer.  Yet  sucb  a  spirit  is  as  differ- 
ent from  tbe  true  missionary  spirit  as  ligbt  from  darkness.  It  would 
witber  before  toils  and  sufferings,  like  tbe  bligbted  blossom  in  tbe 
noon-day  sun.  It  is  tbe  ardour  of  youtb,  instead  of  tbe  spirit  of 
Cbrist.  It  is  a  creature  of  self^  instead  of  tbat  wbicb  seeketb  not 
ber  own.     Such  feelings  tben  must  be  banished. 

"It  is  sometimes  supposed  that  if  an  individual  bas  a  willingness 
or  desire  to  devote  himself  to  tbe  missionary  work,  it  is  of  course, 
his  duty.  If  he  could  be  satisfied  that  tbe  desire  originated  from 
tbe  special  providence  of  God,  he  might  safely  yield  to  it.  If  an 
inclination  to  become  a  missionary  is  of  itself  sufiicieut  evidence  of 
duty,  tben  the  want  of  sucb  an  inclination  will,  with  equal  certaintj^, 
excuse  one.  But  it  is  often  said  to  theological  students,  '  You  dare 
not  examine  the  subject,  lest  you  should  be  convinced  that  it  is  your 
duty  to  go  to  tbe  heathen.'  Tbere  can  be  no  doubt  there  are  minis- 
ters settled  in  New  England  who,  had  they  impartially  examined 
the  subject,  would  now  have  been  in  heathen  lands;  and  perbaps 
others  among  the  heathen,  bad  they  done  the  same,  would  now  have 
been  in  New-England.  Not  that  a  warm  attachment  to  missions  is 
to  be  disregarded;  but  it  is  not  of  itself  a  satisfactory  evidence 
of  duty." 

His  own  decision  was  based  on  something  more  solid  than  sympa- 
thetic yearnings  after  labours  to  which  distance  lent  enchantment. 
It  was  not  formed  without  a  careful  consideration  of  the  different 
splieres  of  Christian  benevolence,  of  their  respective  claims,  and  of 
Ills  relative  fitness  for  tbem.  He  finally  chose  the  foreign  field,  and, 
bis  election  once  made,  all  bis  plans  and  purposes  became  blended 
vvith  it.  His  heart  ratified  tbe  decision  of  his  judgment,  and  bis 
active  powers  were  steadfastly  directed  to  its  accomplishment.     Tbe 


316  MUNSON    AND    LYMAK. 

greater  part  of  the  year,  after  leaving  Andover,  was  spent  at  Boston 
and  Brunswick,  in  the  study  of  medicine.  He  received  his  appoint- 
ment from  the  American  Board,  was  married,  and  prepared  for  his 
departure  to  the  East  in  the  summer  of  1833.  Just  before  his 
embarkation  he  preached  a  sermon,  which  was  published  by  the 
Board  for  circulation.  As  he  was  thenceforth  inseparably  united 
in  life  and  death  with  his  colleague,  Mr.  L3rman,  before  proceeding 
with  the  narrative  of  events  that  blend  the  two  in  the  memory  of 
the  churches,  let  us  trace  the  providential  and  gracious  dispensations 
that  gave  him  such  a  companion. 

Henry  Lyman  was  born  at  Northampton,  Mass.,  November  23, 
1809.  When  very  young  a  dangerous  sickness  seized  him,  and 
while  his  life  hung  in  suspense,  his  father  made  a  solemn  dedication 
of  him  to  the  Lord,  and  resolved,  in  case  his  life  was  spared,  to  edu- 
cate him  with  a  view  to  the  Christian  ministry.  As  health  returned 
to  his  infant  frame,  this  resolve  was  not  forgotten.  He  was  carefully 
instructed  in  the  doctrines  and  duties  of  religion,  and  during  child- 
hood showed  a  spirit  of  cheerful,  filial  obedience,  and  an  unusual 
love  of  neatness  and  order.  After  completing  his  elementary  stu- 
dies, he  prepared  for  college  in  compliance  with  his  father's  wishes, 
but  contrary  to  his  own  inclinations.  His  temperament  was  active, 
his  mind  partial  to  commerce,  agriculture,  or  almost  any  thing, 
rather  than  scholarship.  It  might  have  been  foreseen  that  strong 
restraints  of  principle  could  alone  make  a  college  course  useful  to 
such  a  mind,  and  unfortunately  such  restraints  did  not  bind  him. 
The  pious  influences  of  home,  combined  with  the  direct  teachings 
which  parental  fidelity  imparted,  had  been  insufiicient  to  keep  his 
restless  spirit  within  the  limits  of  moral  propriety.  Religion,  though 
no  stranger  to  his  intellect,  had  no  lodgement  in  his  affections,  and 
in  the  early  part  of  his  course  he  became  a  leader  in  dissipation, 
neglecting  his  studies,  and  signalizing  himself  by  profaneness  and 
impiety. 

A  revival  of  religion  that  profoundly  agitated  the  college  in  1827, 
found  in  him  its  most  conspicuous  opposer, — and  its  most  conspicu- 
ous subject.  The  conflict  between  the  claims  of  religion  and  his 
untamed  impulses  toward  sin  was  long  and  severe,  but  his  resistance 
was  at  length  overcome.  All  his  ardour  was  thenceforth  directed 
to  the  difl"usion  and  exemplification  of  Christian  principles.  His 
influence  was  actively  exercised  to  reclaim  those  whom  he  had 


MUNSON    AND    LYMAN.  317 

encouraged  to  stray  from  the  paths  of  righteousness,  Eemissness 
in  study  was  succeeded  by  a  conscientious  industry.  But  the  loss 
of  time  and  of  intellectual  discipline  already  suffered,  could  not 
wholly  be  repaired.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to  unlearn  the  habits 
which  mental  dissipation  had  induced,  and  to  replace  them  by  those 
severer  and  more  orderly  processes  which  are  essential  to  thorough 
scholarship.  What  could  be  done  by  watchful  exertion  Lyman  did, 
and  attained  to  a  respectable  standing  in  his  class. 

How  soon  the  influence  of  a  missionary  spirit  was  felt  by  him  is 
not  recorded,  but  it  seems  to  have  mingled  with  his  earliest  and 
most  elementary  religious  experience.  When  once  entertained  in 
his  breast,  it  partook  of  his  impulsive  energy.  His  impressions  of 
the  misery  of  the  heathen,  and  his  longings  to  go  for  their  relief, 
were  strong,  at  times  vehement.  At  Andover,  whither  he  resorted 
in  1829  for  theological  training,  much  of  his  reading,  aside  from  the 
prescribed  course  of  study,  was  upon  the  condition  of  pagan  and 
Mohammedan  countries.  He  did  not  decide  hastily  to  offer  himself 
for  missionary  service;  he  sought  advice,  and  meditated  long,  but  it 
was  plain  which  way  the  balance  would  incline.  There  are  motives 
that  might  urge  even  a  lukewarm  mind  towards  the  foreign  field, 
looked  at  in  some  of  its  relations,  but  indifference  was  foreign  to 
Mr.  Lyman's  temper.  His  heart  was  fixed,  his  judgment  assented; 
he  offered  himself,  and  was  accepted  by  the  American  Board  as  a 
missionary  to  South-eastern  Asia,  jointly  with  Mr.  Munson. 

The  instructions  of  Messrs.  Munson  and  Lyman  directed  them  to 
proceed  to  Batavia,  and  thence  to  explore  Pulo  Nias,  an  island  west 
of  Sumatra;  to  extend  their  observations,  if  possible,  to  the  Battas 
in  the  northern  part  of  Sumatra,  and  to  survey  Amboyna,  Timor 
and  Borneo.  For  such  service  they  seemed  happily  paired.  The 
ardour  of  the  one  and  the  cautious  prudence  of  the  other  were  both 
needed.  The  ship  in  which  they  sailed  was  fitted  out  on  temperance 
principles,  and  with  intoxicating  liquors,  profane  language  was  easily 
banished.  The  captain  threw  no  obstacles  in  the  way  of  effort  for  the 
religious  benefit  of  the  sailors;  Mr.  Munson,  however,  was  disquali- 
fied from  exertion  much  of  the  time  by  sea-sickness.  A  hundred 
days'  sailing  brought  them  in  sight  of  "Java  Head,"  and  in  three  or 
four  days  after,  they  were  landed  safely  at  Batavia,  and  cordially 
welcomed  by  Mr.  Medhurst  of  the  London  Missionary  Society. 

They  immediately  commenced  the  study  of  Malay,  and  Mr.  Mun- 
son began  the  Chinese.     Mr.  Lyman  was  greatly  concerned  for  the 


S18  MUNSON    AND    LYMAN. 

health  of  his  wife,  who  was  threatened  with  symptoms  of  fatal  pul- 
monary disease,  but  these  yielded  to  medical  skill.  Scarcely  was 
this  grief  averted,  when  he  received  tidings  of  the  death  of  his  father. 
"For  once,"  he  wrote  to  his  mother,  "I  wished  myself  at  home.  I 
felt  distressed  that  I  could  not  have  been  there  at  the  time.  I  then 
felt  how  good  was  prayer.  E.  and  I  knelt  at  the  throne  of  grace, 
and  commended  you  to  the  care  of  Him  who  has  promised  to  be 
the  widow's  God,  and  a  father  of  the  fatherless.  We  remembered 
the  promises;  they  were  sweet." 

The  distribution  of  tracts  and  attendance  upon  the  sick  were  means 
of  usefulness  that  could  be  employed  at  once,  and  occupied  their 
attention  to  a  considerable  extent,  besides  preaching  on  board  ships, 
and  occasionally  relieving  Mr.  Medhurst  in  the  services  of  his  chapel. 
The  ulterior  objects  of  their  mission  were  delayed  by  the  necessity 
of  gaining  the  assent  of  government  before  attempting  them, — the 
regulations  of  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  forbidding  foreigners 
to  reside  or  travel  within  their  jurisdiction  without  express  leave. 
The  necessary  papers  were  procured  after  some  delay,  and  in  the 
month  of  April,  1834,  they  left  Batavia, — never  to  return.  The 
day  before  their  departure  was  an  occasion  of  solemn  interest.  It 
was  the  Sabbath,  and  they  had  the  consolation  of  receiving  the 
Lord's  Supper;  fifteen  communicants  were  present.  As  they  were 
retiring  from  the  chapel,  Mr.  Munsou  signified  to  his  wife  an  appre- 
hension that  he  might  be  taking  a  final  leave  of  her  and  their  infant 
son.  But  he  was  not  moved  in  his  determination  to  press  forward 
in  the  way  prescribed  for  him.  On  the  7th  they  set  sail  in  a  bark 
having  on  board  ninety  souls,  speaking  twelve  languages. 

Their  route  led  them  along  the  coast  of  Sumatra,  and  at  the 
various  ports  and  islands  they  visited,  they  made  careful  inquiries 
respecting  the  character  and  pursuits  of  the  inhabitants,  especially 
the  Nyas,  with  reference  to  whom  they  were  primarily  instructed. 
They  also  distributed  tracts  to  Malays  and  Chinese,  and,  as  flir  as  their 
imperfect  knowledge  of  the  language  permitted,  conversed  with  the 
people.  The  Malays,  treacherous  and  cruel  in  the  extreme,  excited 
feelings  of  aversion,  but  the  Nyas  made  a  more  favourable  impression. 
They  found  their  character,  as  Americans  and  missionaries,  a  surer 
passport  than  any  favour  from  the  Dutch,  whose  rule  Avas  hated,  and 
whose  patronage  of  the  slave-trade  made  them  dreaded  by  the  natives. 
At  Nyas,  the  island  of  their  first  destination,  they  found  a  state  of 
hostility  among  the  people  unfavourable  to  residence  there  for  the 


MUNSOX    AND    LYMAN.  319 

present.     But  careful  inquiries  were  made  on  all  points,  and  several 
of  the  rajalis  showed  themselves  friendly  to  their  proposed  mission. 

Leaving  Nyas,  they  made  their  way  to  Tappanooly,  where  they 
arrived,  June  17th,  having  suffered  not  a  few  hardships  and  priva- 
tions. From  this  point  they  set  out  on  the  23d,  to  explore  the  Batta 
country,  with  guides,  interpreters  and  servants,  in  all  a  company  of 
fourteen  persons.  On  the  second  night  after  their  departure,  a  rajah 
Avho  hospitably  entertained  them  advised  them  to  remain  a  few  days, 
while  he  sent  forward  to  ascertain  the  disposition  of  the  people 
towards  them.  But  conceiving  that  they  were  not  likely  to  be  dis- 
turbed in  a  peaceable  errand,  they  went  forward.  Their  journey  was 
difficult,  passing  over  steep  hills  and  through  abrupt  ravines,  covered 
Avith  forests  and  dense  thickets.  The  people  of  the  villages  they 
])assed  treated  them  with  a  familiarity  approaching  to  rudeness,  but 
with  no  demonstrations  of  violence.  But  on  the  28th  they  found 
themselves  unexpectedly  within  a  hundred  yards  of  a  fort,  occupied 
by  a  number  of  men,  armed  with  muskets  and  other  weapons.  The 
i  nterpreter  went  to  the  fort  to  parley  with  the  garrison,  when  they  were 
partially  surrounded  by  an  armed  company  of  about  two  hundred 
men.  Most  of  the  servants  threw  down  their  baggage,  and  made 
their  escape.  The  interpreter  and  a  servant  who  was  with  him,  seeino- 
the  aspect  of  affairs,  managed  to  effect  their  escape.  The  missionaries 
were  armed,  for  their  protection  against  wild  beasts,  but  that  their 
pacific  intentions  might  not  be  misinterpreted,  they  immediately  gave 
up  their  arms.  To  use  them,  would  have  been  of  no  avail  against  such 
a  host,  even  had  they  been  disposed  to  repel  force  by  force.  But  their 
interpreter  was  gone,  and  the  multitude  were  too  eager  for  blood  to 
mind  the  significant  gestures  that  supplied  the  place  of  unutterable 
words.  Mr  Lyman  fell  by  a  musket  shct,  and  Mr.  Munson  was 
thrust  through  with  a  spear.  One  of  their  servants  was  also  killed ; 
the  rest  of  the  company  returned  to  tell  the  sad  tidings. 

In  communicating  the  fatal  issue  of  their  expedition,  the  Dutch 
post-holder  at  Tappanooly  took  special  pains  to  represent  that  thev 
went  into  the  interior  against  urgent  warnings  from  himself  and 
others,  and  were  thus  guilty  of  rashness.  The  worthy  magistrate  was 
undoubtedly  solicitous,  lest  blame  should  be  attached  to  him, — of 
which  there  was  not  much  likelihood,  and  may  have  made  these 
warnings  somewhat  more  fervent  in  the  recapitulation  at  this  junc- 
ture, than  at  first.  But  the  missionaries  acted  on  their  best  judg- 
:nent  on  the  representations  of  different  parties;  the  tenor  of  whieli, 


320  MUNSON    AND    LYMAN. 

and  tlie  circumstances  under  which  they  were  made,  are  very  imper- 
fectly known  to  us.  When  the  people  of  the  country  learned  that 
the  men  slain  were  Americans,  who  had  come  to  do  them  good, 
they  fell  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  village  to  which  the  murderers 
belonged,  and  inflicted  a  bloody  retaliation  for  their  crime.  Far 
other  was  the  return  meditated  by  the  friends  whom  the  sad  event 
wounded.  "I  am  so  far  from  sorry,  that  I  parted  with  Henry  to  be  a 
missionary,"  said  the  widowed  mother  of  Mr.  Lyman,  "that  I  never 
felt  so  strong  a  desire  that  some  of  my  other  children  should  engage 
in  the  same  cause.  0,  how  much  do  those  poor  creatures  who  mur. 
dered  my  son,  need  the  gospel!" 

From  the  view  which  has  been  given  of  the  brief  missionary  career 
of  these  men,  there  is  seen  enough  to  justify  the  sorrow  which  their 
early  removal  caused.  They  were  persons  of  unusual  promise, 
each,  by  a  peculiar  discipline,  fitted  for  great  usefulness.  The  one 
active  and  ardent,  taught  by  bitter  experience  the  evil  of  his  own 
nature,  and  driven  by  the  memories  of  the  past  to  more  vehement 
exertion ;  the  other  deliberate,  thoughtful,  thorough,  decided,  never 
idle,  never  in  haste ;  both  consecrated  with  no  common  measure  of 
zeal  to  the  work  of  missions,  and  profoundly  interested  in  the  field 
they  were  exploring;  their  death  was  not  only  a  blow  to  their 
respective  circles  of  friends,  but  to  churches  that  hoped  much  from 
their  life.  But  He  who  called  them  to  go  up  higher,  had  a  different 
service  for  them  to  undertake,  and  reserved  their  earthly  field 
for  others. 


JOHANNES  THEODORUS  VANDERKEMP. 


Johannes  Theodoeus  Yanderkemp,  the  son  of  a  clergyman  of 
the  Datch  Church,  was  born  at  Eotterdara,  in  the  year  1748,  and  at 
an  early  period  of  his  life,  was  entered  a  student  at  the  university 
of  Leyden,  in  which  his  brother  was  afterwards  Professor  of  Divin- 
ity. Here  he  made  extraordinary  attainments  in  the  learned  lan- 
guages, philosophy,  divinity,  medicine,  and  military  tactics,  and  on 
the  conclusion  of  his  university  course  entered  the  army,  where  he 
served  for  sixteen  years,  and  rose  to  the  rank  of  Captain  of  Horse, 
and  Lieutenant  of  the  Dragoon  Guards.  He  quitted  the  army  in 
consequence  of  a  quarrel  with  the  Prince  of  Orange,  and,  resigning 
the  prospects  of  distinction  which  he  there  enjoyed,  he  resolved  to 
devote  himself  to  the  medical  practice,  for  which  he  had  already  no 
inconsiderable  qualifications,  but  spent  two  years  at  the  university  of 
Edinburgh,  to  perfect  himself  in  his  profession.  At  the  conclusion 
of  his  studies,  having  received  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Medicine, 
he  returned  to  Holland,  and  settled  as  a  physician  in  Middleburg, 
where  he  practised  for  a  time  with  great  success,  and  gained  a  wide 
reputation  for  science  and  skill.  He  afterwards  removed  to  Dort, 
where  he  engaged  chiefly  in  the  pursuits  of  literature  and  rural 
amusements. 

Soon  after  entering  the  army  he  had  imbibed  infidel  sentiments, 
then  prevalent  in  Europe,  especially  on  the  Continent,  and,  the 
restraints  of  a  religious  education  once  broken  through,  he  became 
addicted  to  habits  of  vice.  These  evil  courses  affected  his  pious 
father  with  such  grief,  that  it  is  believed  to  have  shortened  his  life. 
Marriage  and  subsequent  retirement  from  the  army,  reclaimed  him 
from  some  of  his  irregularities,  but  at  Edinburgh  he  became  a  con- 
firmed deist.     He  says  of  his  views  at  that  time: 

"Christianity  appeared  inconsistent  with  the  dictates  of  reason, — 
the  Bible,  a  collection  of  incoherent  opinions,  tales,  and  prejudices. 
As  to  the  person  of  Christ,  I  looked  at  first  upon  him  as  a  man  of 
21 


822  J.    T.    VANDEKKEMP. 

sense  and  learning,  but  who,  by  opposition  to  the  established  eccle- 
siastical and  political  maxims  of  the  Jews,  became  the  object  of 
their  hatred  and  the  victim  of  his  own  system,  I  often  celebrated 
the  memory  of  his  death,  by  partaking  of  the  Lord's  Supper:  but 
some  time  after,  reflecting  that  he  termed  himself  the  Son  of  God, 
and  pretended  to  do  miracles,  he  lost  all  my  former  veneration.  I 
then  prayed  that  God,  by  punishing  my  sins,  would  prepare  me  for 
virtue  and  happiness;  and  I  thanked  him  for  every  misfortune. 
But  the  first  observation  which  I  made  was,  that  although  often- 
times severely  chastised,  I  became  neither  wiser  nor  better.  I 
therefore  again  prayed  to  God  that  he  would  show  me,  in  every 
instance,  the  crime  for  which  I  was  punished,  that  I  might  know 
and  avoid  it.  Finding  this  also  vain,  I  feared  that  I  should  per- 
haps never  be  corrected  in  this  life  by  punishment;  still  I  hoped 
that  I  might  be  delivered  from  moral  evil  after  death,  by  a  severer 
punishment.  Yet,  reflecting  that  punishment  had  proved  utterly 
ineffectual,  to  produce  even  the  loAvest  degree  of  virtue  in  my  soul, 
I  was  constrained  to  acknowledge  that  my  theory,  though  it  seemed 
by  a  priori  reasoning  well  founded,  was  totally  refuted  by  experi- 
ence; and  I  concluded  that  it  was  entirely  out  of  the  reach  of 
my  reason  to  discover  the  true  road  to  virtue  and  happiness.  I 
confessed  this  my  impotence  and  blindness  to  God,  and  owned 
myself  to  be  like  a  blind  man  who  had  lost  his  way,  and  who 
waited  in  hope,  that  some  benevolent  person  would  pass  by,  and 
show  him  the  right  path;  so  I  waited  upon  God,  that  he  would  take 
me  by  the  hand,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlasting." 

Dr.  Vanderkemp  was  thus  brought  to  see  the  real  result  of  skep- 
ticism— that  instead  of  light,  it  brought  darkness;  instead  of  higher 
truths,  the  denial  of  all  knowledge ;  instead  of  better  hopes  than 
those  of  religion,  a  hopeless  narrowing  of  sight  to  the  present,  and 
total  ignorance  in  points  where  certainty  is  most  necessary  to  the 
mind.  It  was  hardly  possible  that  a  mind  so  ingenuous  should 
long  remain  in  this  state  of  doubt,  but  he  was  roused  by  an  event 
that  gave  a  shock  to  all  worldly  enjoyment,  and  concentrated  his 
powers  in  the  contemplation  of  Him,  whose  wise  and  sovereign 
providence  inflicted  the  blow.  On  the  27th  of  June,  1791,  as  he 
was  sailing  Avith  his  wife  and  daughter  on  the  river,  near  Dort,  a 
sudden  and  violent  squall  upset  the  boat.  Mrs.  and  Miss  Vander- 
kemp instantly  perished,  and  the  doctor,  who  clung  to  the  boat, 


J.     T.     VANDERKEMP.  325 

was  carried  down  the  stream  nearly  a  mile,  no  one  venturing  from 
the  shore  to  his  relief.  A  ship  in  the  port  being  driven  from  her 
moorings,  was  drifted  towards  that  part  of  the  channel  of  the  river 
Avhere  the  doctor  was  ready  to  sink,  and  the  sailors  rescued  him. 

This  memorable  affliction,  and  equally  memorable  deliverance,  it 
would  seem,  gave  a  decided  shock  to  his  skeptical  views.  His 
mind,  exhausted  in  the  vain  endeavour  to  resolve  by  unaided 
reason  the  problem  of  his  moral  life,  was  quickened  to  the  investi- 
gation of  the  claims  and  offers  of  Christianity  with  new  interest. 
The  truths  he  had  before  rejected  with  scorn,  now  commended 
themselves  to  his  judgment  and  to  his  heart.  In  a  letter  referring 
to  this  period  of  life,  he  says:  "I  am  compelled  to  admit,  that  in 
many  instances  my  knowledge  was  very  imperfect: — taken  up  with 
the  love  of  Christ,  I  had  little  or  no  experience  of  the  strugglings 
of  unbelief,  of  the  power  of  sin,  of  the  assaults  of  Satan,  of  the 
depth  and  extent  of  the  misery  in  which  I  had  been,  of  the  guilt 
from  which  I  had  been  delivered,  of  my  natural  enmity  against 
God,  nor  even  of  my  own  ignorance."  But  in  proportion  as  his 
mind  was  enlightened,  his  heart  was  but  the  more  settled  in  the 
obedience  of  faith. 

During  the  war  between  Holland  and  France,  in  1793,  a  large 
hospital  was  erected  near  Rotterdam,  of  which  Dr.  Vanderkemp 
was  appointed  director.  Here  his  skill  and  benevolence  united  to 
win  for  him  a  large  measure  of  esteem.  Nor,  while  studious  of 
the  order  of  the  hospital  and  the  comfort  of  the  patients,  did  he 
neglect  the  advancement  of  piety  there.  A  catechist  was  employed 
to  instruct  the  inmates  twice  or  thrice  a-week,  and  on  every  Sunday 
they  were  regularly  led  to  public  worship.  But  the  subsequent 
invasion  by  the  French,  put  an  end  to  his  usefulness  by  breaking 
up  the  hospital,  and  he  returned  to  his  literary  pursuits  at  Dort. 
Here  he  was  particularly  engaged  in  the  study  of  oriental  litera- 
ture, and  in  composing  a  commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Ilomans 

The  formation  of  the  London  Missionary  Society,  in  1795, 
attracted  his  attention,  and  excited  in  him  a  warm  interest  for  their 
great  enterprise.  He  procured  a  copy  of  the  discourses  preached 
at  the  organization  of  the  Society,  with  a  view  of  publishing  a 
Dutch  translation,  to  excite  a  missionary  spirit  in  the  churches  of 
his  own  country.  The  reading  of  these  productions  awakened  a 
desire  to   undertake    some   direct  personal  service  in  this  cause. 


o2i  J.    T.    VANDEKKEMP. 

"Here  am  I,  Lord  Jesus,"  was  bis  language  upon  liis  knees;  "tliou 
knowest  that  I  have  had  no  will  of  my  own,  since  I  gave  myself  up 
to  thee,  to  be  spent  in  thy  service  according  to  thy  pleasure ;  pre- 
vent me  only  from  doing  any  thing  in  this  great  work  in  a  carnal 
and  self-sufficient  spirit,  and  lead  me  in  the  right  way,  if  there  yet 
be  any  way  of  wickedness  in  me."  To  the  Directors  of  the  Mis- 
sionary Societ}'  he  addressed  a  letter,  expressing  "a  desire  to  be 
sent,  if  it  be  the  will  of  God,  to  the  heathen;  or  to  abide  in  this 
country,  endeavouring  to  serve  my  Lord,  in  stirring  up  the  too 
languid  zeal  of  my  countrymen." 

The  directors  replied  to  this  communication  by  an  invitation  to 
visit  London,  which  was  at  once  complied  with.  Dr,  Yanderkemp 
remained  there  several  months,  and  commended  himself  as  a  suit- 
able person  to  commence  and  superintend  a  mission  to  South  Africa, 
an  enterprise  he  had  himself  proposed.  This  appointment  he 
accepted,  and  directed  his  attention  to  every  accessible  means  of 
informing  and  qualifying  himself  for  the  work.  Among  other 
things,  it  occurred  to  him  that  an  acquaintance  with  the  art  of 
brick-making  might  prove  useful  in  his  efforts  to  promote  the  civili- 
zation of  the  people,  and  for  this  intent  he  employed  himself  for 
some  time  in  a  brick -yard  near  London.  Eeturning  to  Holland  to 
settle  his  affairs,  he  took  with  him  an  address  from  the  Missionary 
Society,  which  was  translated  and  widely  circulated.  He  succeeded 
in  organizing  a  society  in  Eotterdam;  another  was  formed  in  East 
Friesland,  and  Eev.  Mr.  Kicherer,  a  minister  of  the  Dutch  Church, 
accompanied  him  to  England,  as  a  candidate  for  missionary  service. 
To  this  service.  Dr.  Vanderkemp  was  ordained  in  the  Scots'  Church, 
London,  and  on  the  23d  of  December,  1798,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Kicherer  and  Messrs.  Edmund  and  Edwards,  set  sail  for  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  in  the  Hillsborough,  government  transport,  bound  for 
Botany  Bay.  The  Duff,  with  missionaries  for  the  South  Sea  Islands, 
sailed  in  compan}^,  but  parting,  was  captured  by  a  French  privateer 

More  wretched,  depraved,  and  abandoned  persons  than  the  con- 
victs on  board  the  transport,  could  hardly  have  been  collected. 
Their  turbulence  threatened  the  lives  of  some  of  the  officers  before 
leaving  the  harbour.  The  doctor  was  warned  not  to  trust  himself 
among  them,  but  his  benevolent  daring  proved  the  truest  wisdom 
and  prudence.  He  conversed  freely  and  kindly  with  them,  soothed 
their  agitation,  and  procured,  in  consequence,  the  removal  of  some 
severe  restraints  which  their   mutinous   behaviour  had  rendered 


J.    T.     VAXDERKEMP.  325 

necessar}-.  Thej  listened  with  respectful  attention  to  his  advice 
and  instructions,  to  their  manifest  improvement  and  the  hopeful 
conversion  of  some.  Disease  soon  made  its  appearance  among 
them,  and  raged  with  flital  effect  in  their  crowded  quarters.  The 
heat,  the  effluvia,  the  inexpressible  misery  of  the  hospital,  made 
attendance  on  the  sick  and  dying,  a  hazardous  ofiice,  but  the 
missionaries  gave  themselves  intrepidly  to  it,  and  the  infection 
was  not  permitted  to  harm  them.  This  calamity  was  succeeded  by 
a  storm,  which  for  three  days  placed  them  in  extreme  peril.  In 
their  prayers  they  did  not  forget  the  Duff  "Lord,"  said  Dr.  Van- 
derkemp,  with  quaint  simplicit}^,  "Thou  hast  given  them  a  little 
ship,  and  thej'  are  with  us  in  a  great  storm;  v/e  pray  that  thou 
wouldst  give  them  great  faith."  The  danger  was  averted,  and  they 
gave  thanksgivings  for  their  deliverance.  After  a  passage  of  about 
fifteen  weeks,  the  Hillsborough  came  to  anchor  at  the  Cape,  March 
31,  1799.  The  missionaries  were  received  with  much  kindness  by 
pious  colonists,  and  a  South  African  Missionary  Society  was  formed. 

Missions  in  South  Africa  have  had  to  contend  with  the  same  diffi- 
culties that  obstruct  all  efforts  for  the  improvement  of  aboriginal 
races,  pressed  upon  by  unscrupulous  colonists,  but  in  a  more  than 
ordinary  measure.  The  colony  of  the  Cape  was  founded  by  the 
Dutch  in  1650.  The  Hottentots,  a  simple  people,  generally  honest, 
and  of  course  confiding,  were  induced  to  sell  a  considerable  tract  of 
land  and  a  stock  of  cattle,  in  which  their  wealth  alone  consisted,  for 
a  few  trifling  presents  and  a  quantity  of  ardent  spirits.  By  degrees, 
the  colonists  seized  their  territories,  without  the  trouble  of  offering 
an  equivalent,  reduced  many  of  the  people  to  servitude,  and  drove 
those  who  could  not  be  at  once  subdued  into  the  mountains,  where 
they  lived  a  hunting  and  marauding  life.  The  increase  of  colonists 
called  for  an  increase  of  slaves,  and  they  went  without  remorse  to 
hunt  down  the  wild  Hottentots  or  Bushmen,  murder  the  men,  and 
carry  their  families  into  captivity.  In  1774,  an  order  was  passed 
for  the  total  extermination  of  the  Bushmen,  an  enterprise  that  was 
warmly  approved  by  the  Boors,  or  farmers  of  the  colony,  and  car- 
ried into  effect  with  considerable  zeal.  How  many  were  murdered, 
there  is  no  way  of  ascertaining.  Organized  bands  marched  for  that 
purpose,  and  the  Boors  chased  and  shot  Bushmen  like  any  other 
game.  The  sport  was  interrupted, — perhaps  because  the  sportsmen 
"ot  tired  of  ii,  and  wanted  some  new  excitement. 


026  J.    T.    VANDEKKEMP. 

The  Dutch  did  not  neglect  the  instruction  of  the  natives  in  Chris- 
tianity, but  found  no  very  docile  scholars.  Men  who  must  become 
slaves  in  order  to  come  within  the  reach  of  Christian  truth,  will 
be  apt  to  restrain  their  hankering  after  a  knowledge  of  good  and 
evil  in  which  the  last  element  is  so  prominent.  Those  who  were 
already  enslaved  had  gained  a  pretty  distinct  insight  into  the  merits 
of  colonial  theology  and  moralit}^,  and  needed  no  further  lessons 
from  that  source.  The  Moravian  mission,  recommenced,  after  a 
long  interval  of  exclusion,  in  1792,  was  more  successful.  The  hum- 
ble, patient,  self-denying  benevolence  of  the  United  Brethren,  to 
whom  the  colonists  rendered  the  best  service  they  could, — hostility, 
sometimes  open  and  sometimes  dissembled, — was  instrumental  in 
bringing  not  a  few  of  the  Hottentots  to  the  love  of  the  truth,  to  a  well- 
ordered  social  life,  and  the  enjoyment  of  many  comforts  of  a  civilized 
state.  The  mission  was  at  length  in  danger  of  being  entirely  broken 
up  by  an  insurrection  of  the  Boors,  when  the  capture  of  the  colony 
by  the  British,  in  1795,  gave  it  temporary  protection,  and  on  the 
final  conquest  by  which  the  Cape  became  British  territory,  missions 
became  objects  of  protection  and  encouragement.  Not  that  the 
British  government  has  abstained  from  those  wrongs  which  civil- 
ized nations,  under  whatever  varied  pretences,  uniformly  inflict 
upon  uncivilized  races  with  whom  they  come  in  conflict  in  the  pro- 
gress of  colonization.  Less  openly  violent  in  their  policy  than  the 
Dutch,  and  avoiding  the  sanguinary  cruelty  that  distinguished  their 
whole  proceedings,  the  English  have  not  always  been  scrupulous  of 
the  rights  of  the  natives.  The  interests  of  the  colony  outweigh 
higher  considerations  when  they  come  into  opposite  scales;  but 
individual  oppression  has  been  discountenanced,  the  Hottentots  are 
no  longer  slaves,  and,  with  some  inconstanc}^  the  government  has 
shown  a  degree  of  consideration  for  the  welfare  of  the  natives,  that 
their  predecessors  never  professed. 

The  British  possession  of  the  Cape  commenced  about  the  time 
that  the  Missionary  Society  sent  out  its  first  mission.  Dr.  Vander- 
kemp  and  his  coadjutors,  however,  had  no  intention  to  settle  within 
the  colony.  Their  views  were  directed  to  the  Caflfres,  an  independent 
}iation  inhabiting  the  territory  eastward  of  the  colonial  boundaries,— 
a  people  greatly  superior  to  the  Hottentots.  Of  a  commanding  stat- 
ure, noble  features,  a  dark-brown  complexion,  approaching  the 
Asiatic,  with  a  remarkable  energy  and  fearlessness  of  character, 
ihey  presented  promising  materials  for  the  rise  of  an  enterprising 


J.    T.    VANDEEKEMP.  327 

nation.  They  were  far  from  the  savage  state,  having  a  regard  for 
rights  of  property  and  the  force  of  kiw, — rude  and  imperfectly 
defined,  it  is  true,  but  not  the  less  real, — widely  distinguishing  them 
from  most  of  the  African  tribes  before  discovered.  They  were 
addicted  to  agriculture,  and  though  somewhat  turbulent,  and  less 
tractable  to  instruction  than  the  Hottentots,  were  likelj^  to  reward 
all  the  labour  bestowed  on  them.* 

On  their  arrival  at  the  Cape  the  missionaries  intended  going 
immediately  into  Caffraria,  but  a  delegation  from  the  Bushmen  on 
the  Zak  river,  four  or  five  hundred  miles  from  Capetown,  having 
come  with  a  request  to  have  teachers  sent  among  them,  it  was  thought 
best  to  detach  a  part  of  the  company  to  a  region  thus  providentially 
opened  to  them.  Mr.  Kicherer  and  Mr.  Edwards,  therefore,  decided 
to  go  with  the  Bush-chiefs,  while  Dr.  Vanderkemp  and  Mr.  Edmond 
should  execute  their  original  purpose.  They  made  their  way  with 
some  difficulty  into  the  Caffre  country,  and  were  assigned  by  the 
king  a  place  of  settlement,  but  the  state  of  the  country  was  such 
that  it  was  impossible  to  prosecute  their  labours.  On  the  frontier 
there  was  continual  disturbance.  The  British  jurisdiction  in  the 
colony  was  then  recent,  and  might  be  only  temporary;  it  was  not 
easy  to  keep  order.  The  king  was  jealous  of  foreigners,  as  he  had 
reason  to  be,  and  Dr.  Vanderkemp  was  no  exception, — though  he 
might  have  been,  had  not  evil-disposed  persons  taken  every  oppor- 
tunity to  excite  groundless  suspicions  against  him.  After  about 
sixteen  months  of  labour,  which,  though  ineffectual  as  regarded  the 
Caffres,  was  useful  to  some  Hottentots,  Bushmen  and  fugitive  colo- 
nists who  were  harboured  there,  he  reluctantly  removed  within  the 
colony,  and  settled  at  Graaf  Eeinet,  where  he  was  joined,  on  the 
14th  of  May,  1801,  by  two  fellow-labourers,  Messrs.  Yauderlingen 
and  Read. 

At  Graaf  Reinet,  the  missionaries  immediately  gathered  a  congre 

*  If  these  prospects  have  not  been  realized  in  subsequent  labours  among  the 
Caffres;  if  repeated  wars,  growing  out  of  an  imperious  and  encroaching  policy  on 
the  part  of  the  British  colonists  have  interposed  insuperable  obstacles  to  the  desired 
consummation;  and  if  the  result  of  these  unhappy  struggles  shall  be  tlie  subjection 
and  ultimate  extinction  of  a  people  worthy  of  the  most  considerate  culture,  let  an 
ao-oressive  civilization,  godless  and  inhuman  in  its  progress,  wear  the  shame.  The 
old  plea  that  "  savages  cannot  be  reclaimed,"  with  which  the  strong  have  continually 
sought  to  veil  their  injustice  toward  the  weak,  is  unavailing  as  against  the  appeal  of 
tiie  Caffres. 


328  J.    T,    VANDEKKEMP. 

gation  of  Hottentots,  and  commenced  a  school  for  instructing  tliem 
in  reading  and  writing.  This  attempt  to  elevate  the  condition  of 
the  oppressed  natives,  roused  the  anger  of  the  Boors,  which  had  all 
the  sullen  malignity  that  commonly  marks  the  hatred  of  men 
towards  those  whom  they  have  injured.  Favours  shown  to  the  Hot- 
tentots by  British  authority  were  made  the  pretext  of  a  Dutch 
insurrection.  The  motives  of  the  insurgents  plainly  appeared,  when 
they  made  the  mission  at  Graaf  Eeinet  their  first  object  of  attack. 
They  finally  laid  down  their  arms  without  any  bloodshed,  but  at 
the  invitation  of  Governor  Dundas,  the  missionaries  removed,  with 
the  people  under  their  charge,  to  a  more  eligible  location  near 
Algoa  Bay,  called  Beta's  farm,  the  governor  supplying  them  with 
provisions  for  one  year.  The  buildings  on  the  farm  were  sufiicient 
for  a  dwelling-house,  a  church,  a  school  and  a  printing  ofl&ce. 

Instruction  was  immediately  commenced,  and  the  prospect  seemed 
fair  for  a  prosperous  mission,  but  it  soon  appeared  that  the  spot  was 
by  no  means  healthy.  Agues  and  other  diseases  became  prevalent 
among  the  people,  and  Dr.  Vanderkemp  was  confined  to  his  bed  for 
eleven  months  with  rheumatism.  But  he  was  not  to  be  discouraged. 
He  went  forward,  diligently  seeking  the  spiritual  and  temporal  good 
of  the  people.  He  gained  both  the  confidence  of  the  Hottentots 
and  the  hatred  of  the  Boors,  which  alike  attested  his  ability  and 
integrity.  Governor  Dundas  employed  him  in  negotiating  a  treaty 
with  the  Hottentot  chiefs.  He  succeeded  with  one  of  them,  on 
which  the  others  directed  their  hostility  against  him.  Dr.  Yander- 
kemp's  hopes  of  peace  were  blasted  by  the  breach  of  faith  on  the 
part  of  the  governor  with  the  chief  who  had  entered  into  treaty. 
His  representations  were  overruled  in  consequence  of  calumnious 
charges  against  him,  and  at  last  he  was  forbidden  to  receive  any 
more  Hottentots  into  his  settlement.  A  war  broke  out  with  the 
Hottentots  and  Cafires,  aggravated  by  insurrections  of  the  Boors. 
At  this  crisis  the  peace  of  Amiens  restored  the  colony  to  the 
Dutch,  and  the  British  withdrew.  The  governor  urged  Dr.  Van- 
derkemp to  remove  to  the  Cape,  and  postpone  his  labours  till  more 
quiet  times.  This  Avas  declined.  He  then  proposed  to  the  mission- 
aries, for  their  own  security,  to  remove  their  quarters  to  Fort  Frederic, 
in  the  immediate  neighbourhood,  which  was  to  be  evacuated  bj^  the 
troops.     This  was  also  declined  as  inexpedient. 

Within  eight  days  the  settlement  was  attacked  at  midnight  by  a 
band  of  marauding  Hottentots.     Compelled  to  fire  in  self-defence, 


J.    T.    VANDERKEMP.  309 

one  of  the  Hottentots  belonging  to  the  station  fired  at  random ;  the 
shot  took  effect  fatally  on  the  chief  of  the  attacking  party,  and  the 
enemy  dispersed.  The  next  night  the  plunderers  returned  to  the 
charge,  but  finding  the  place  barricaded  and  the  cattle  secured, 
retired.  A  third  attack  was  made  in  the  day-time,  two  wood-cut- 
ters were  killed,  and  all  the  cattle  driven  off,  but  the  people  rallied 
in  pursuit,  and  recovered  them.      The  missionaries  had  all  alon^'- 

O 

taught  their  people  that  a  Christian  could  not  justly  save  his  prop- 
erty by  deadly  force,  and  that  nothing  but  the  necessity  of  personal 
self-defence  could  justify  the  sacrifice  of  life.  It  was  not  so  easy, 
however,  to  make  them  appreciate  the  distinction,  and  in  the  unset- 
tled state  of  the  country,  they  feared  to  become  involved  in  blood- 
shed. The  settlement  was  accordingly  removed  into  the  fort.  The 
colonists  interpreted  this  act  as  indicating  an  intention  to  unite  with 
them  in  hostilities  against  the  native  tribes,  and  encouraged  the 
removal ;  but  when  they  found  that  the  missionaries  still  discounte- 
nanced all  their  proceedings,  they  exerted  themselves  to  render  their 
efforts  as  far  as  possible  fruitless.  The  weak  and  half-taught  Hot- 
tentots were  some  of  them  seduced  into  vices  that  could  not  be 
tolerated  in  a  missionary  settlement,  and  the  company — that  at  Bota's 
Place  numbered  three  hundred — was  considerably  reduced.  But 
among  the  remnant  there  was  evidence  that  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  had  its  appropriate  effect  in  the  awakening  and  conversion 
of  those  who  heard. 

The  Boors  looked  forward  to  the  restoration  of  Dutch  authority 
with  ill-dissembled  satisfaction,  as  to  an  event  that  should  give  them 
power  to  renew  their  oppression  of  the  natives.  They  did  not  even 
wait  for  the  installation  of  the  new  authorities  at  the  Cape,  but  forth- 
with began  murdering  Bushmen  and  kidnapping  their  children,  as 
if  the  old  bloody  code  were  already  reenacted.  Governor  Jansen, 
however,  the  new  chief-magistrate,  had  known  Dr.  Vanderkemp 
familiarl}^  in  former  years,  and  was,  moreover,  too  enlightened  and 
humane  to  think  of  renewing  the  atrocities  on  which  the  colonists 
were  resolved.  But  his  sympathy  with  Vanderkemp's  religious 
character,  and  with  the  objects  he  had  at  heart,  were  rather  faint. 
Although  he  treated  the  venerable  missionary  with  much  respect, 
and  promised  justice  to  the  natives,  he  imbibed  from  the  colonists  a 
prejudice  against  them,  and  a  jealousy  of  the  missions  that  led 
to  a  hesitating  policy;  sometimes  apparently  benevolent  to  the 
Hottentots  and  confiding  towards  their  teachers,  and  again  makin-^ 


330  J.    T.    VANDERKEMP, 

concessions  to  the  Boors  that  threatened  tlie  very  existence  of 
the  nriissions. 

Leaving  the  Cape  on  a  tour  of  inspection,  the  governor  visited 
Dr.  Vanderkemp,  and  conferred  with  him  at  some  length.  He 
admitted  the  utihtj  of  missions,  and  that  some  objections  he  had 
entertained  against  them  were  invalid,  but  it  was  not  easy  to  eradi- 
cate his  prejudices  against  the  natives.  It  being  necessary  to  remove 
the  mission  from  the  fort,  a  tract  of  land  about  seven  miles  to  the 
northward  was  assigned.  The  governor  requested  Dr.  Yanderkemp 
to  name  it,  with  the  suggestion  that  he  was  not  partial  to  scriptural 
names.  The  doctor,  recollecting  that  he  had  preached  on  the  pre- 
ceding Sabbath  from  Genesis  xxxv.  2,  3,  quietly  proposed  Bethels- 
dorp, — the  village  of  Bethel, — to  which  Governor  Jansen  assented. 
The  next  day  he  found  out  the  joke,  and  owned  that  the  laugh  was 
fairly  against  him. 

The  station  was  not  the  most  favourable,  but  it  was  entered  upon 
with  energy,  land  was  laid  out  and  sown,  a  church  erected  and  a 
village  commenced.  Owing  to  the  lateness  of  the  season  when  they 
arrived,  the  first  crops  turned  out  badly,  heavy  rains  inundated 
them,  and  the  settlement  was  retarded  in  its  beginnings.  These  diffi- 
culties were  partially  overcome,  schools  were  begun,  and  the  mission 
seemed  in  a  fair  way  to  become  prosperously  established.  The 
arrival  of  two  new  missionaries  still  brightened  the  prospect,  when 
the  enterprise  was  threatened  with  entire  destruction  through  the 
perverse  policy  of  the  governor. 

Having  no  very  clear  notions  of  the  design  of  the  missionaries, 
and  little  sympathy  with  their  methods,  he  saw  enough  of  their 
character  and  of  the  immediate  results  they  secured,  to  inspire  per- 
sonal respect.  The  enlistment  of  a  corps  of  Hottentot  soldiers,  many 
of  whom  were  drafted  from  the  Moravian  and  English  mission  insti- 
tutions, and  gave  full  proof  of  their  superiority  to  their  ruder 
brethren,  confirmed  this  good  opinion.  He  began  to  look  on  mis- 
sions, therefore,  as  an  excellent  aid  to  the  government,  and  as  only 
needing  a  little  amendment  by  his  own  politic  counsel  to  become  an 
important  engine  of  state.  His  excellency  does  not  seem  to  have 
entertained  a  moment's  doubt  of  his  capacity  to  regulate  all  these 
matters,  in  which  he  was  by  no  means  singular.  The  possession  of 
power  seldom  makes  men  modest.  His  plan  aimed  at  nothing  less 
than  the  reconciliation  of  missions  and  the  policy  of  the  colonists, 
by  a  compromise.     All  neiu  missionaries  must  establish  themselves 


J.    T.    V  AND  EE  KEMP.  331 

iu  "the  interior  of  the  Cape,"  beyond  the  limits  of  the  colony,  and 
were  inhibited  from  teaching  any  native  having  residence  within 
those  limits,  without  express  leave  obtained  of  the  governor.  The 
three  stations  already  established  within  the  limits  were  tolerated, 
but  they  were  restricted  to  the  teaching  o^  wandering  Hottentots.  At 
the  same  time  they  were  not  allowed  to  enter  Caffraria.  No  instruc- 
tion in  writing  was  permitted,  and  public  prayer  for  any  government, 
except  that  of  Holland  and  the  colony  of  the  Cape,  was  forbidden. 
The  missionaries  were  required  to  make  frequent  report  of  the  state 
of  their  institutions,  and  to  give  instruction  on  certain  topics  sug- 
gested by  the  governor's  wisdom. 

This  absurd  attempt  to  please  the  colonists,  by  making  the  degra- 
dation of  the  natives  within  the  colony  perpetual,  and  keeping  the 
exterior  tribes  from  rising  above  the  possibility  of  subjugation,  and 
at  the  same  time  to  gratify  his  mixed  sentiments  of  good-will  and 
suspicion  towards  the  missionaries, — might  have  entirely  destroyed 
the  efforts  for  the  civilization  of  South  Africa,  if  it  had  been  per- 
mitted to  exist  for  any  considerable  time.  Dr.  Vanderkemp  obeyed 
as  far  as  he  could,  but  it  was  not  possible  that  a  minister  of  Christ 
should  consent  to  abdicate  the  commission  which  sent  him  to  "teach 
all  nations."  A  Caffre  chief  committed  a  son  to  his  care,  and  another 
offered  two  sons  for  instruction.  They  were  received,  to  the  great 
clamour  of  the  Boors,  and  in  violation  of  the  governor's  edict.  Dr. 
Vanderkemp  and  Mr.  Head  were  summoned,  in  April,  1805,  to 
appear  at  the  Cape,  and  answer  for  their  conduct.  During  the  pre- 
ceding three  months  thirteen  hopeful  converts  had  rewarded  the 
toils  of  these  brethren,  and  they  were  naturally  reluctant  to  leave 
their  charge  at  such  a  time.  Two  missionaries  had  recently  arrived 
at  Bethelsdorp,  and  to  their  care  the  interests  of  the  station  were 
committed.  A  journey  of  five  wrecks  brought  them  to  Capetown. 
It  was  performed  with  more  lightness  of  heart  in  consequence  of 
meeting  still  another  missionary,  who  had  gained  permission  from 
the  governor  to  settle  at  Bethelsdorp. 

At  the  Cape  they  were  detained  eight  months,  unable  to  obtain  a 
trial,  or  leave  to  return  to  Bethelsdorp,  to  found  a  new  station,  or 
even  to  pass  through  the  colony  in  order  to  reach  some  tribe  beyond 
the  Dutch  jurisdiction.  In  this  state  of  things  Mrs.  Smith,  a  widow 
lady  in  her  fifty-fifth  year  and  in  a  feeble  state  of  health,  disposed 
of  her  property,  and  gave  up  ease  and  social  consideration  for  the 
Avolfare  of  the  mission.     She  gathered  the  children  into  a  school. 


C32  J.    T.    VANDERKEMP. 

taught  the  women  usefal  employments  suitable  to  the  sex,  and 
laboured  to  introduce  both  the  principles  of  religion  and  the  decen- 
cies of  life  among  them.  In  short,  she  did  for  the  mission  what  only 
feminine  benevolence  could  do,  the  want  of  which  had  been  a  serious 
drawback  upon  its  progress  *  So  that  the  eight  months  of  inactivity 
to  which  the  two  missionaries  were  condemned  proved  the  occasion 
of  great  good  to  the  people  of  their  charge.  But  they  v/ere  long 
months  to  men  who  so  loved  their  work.  Wearied  out  by  the  delay. 
Dr.  Vanderkemp  began  to  think  of  a  mission  on  the  east  coast  of 
Africa,  and  also  in  Madagascar.  The  outline  of  such  a  project  was 
drawn  up  and  sent  to  Europe,  but  within  a  month  the  trial  of  their 
faith  was  terminated  by  the  final  capture  of  the  Cape  by  the  British, 
January  8,  1806.  Sir  David  Ba,ird,  the  English  commander,  treated 
the  missionaries  with  great  respect,  permitted  them  to  return  to  their 
station,  and  gave  them  the  free  occupation  of  a  tract  of  land  belong- 
ing to  the  government. 

Dr.  Vanderkemp,  amid  the  cares  of  his  principal  employment, 
found  time  to  complete  his  work  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Eomans, 
which  he  sent  to  Europe  for  publication,  under  the  title  of  "The 
Ttieodicy  of  St.  Paul."  In  the  year  1808,  the  population  of  Beth- 
elsdorp  amounted  to  from  six  to  seven  hundred  souls,  who  showed 
an  increasing  spirit  of  industry.  The  interests  of  religion  among 
them  were  prosperous.  The  schools  flourished.  "In  short,"  Dr. 
Vanderkemp  wrote,  "after  six  years'  labour,  it  has  attained  such  a 
degree  of  solidity,  that  it  may  be  committed  to  the  care  of  another 
missionary,  which  will  enable  me  to  devote  some  subsequent  days 
of  my  far-advanced  age  to  God's  service,  among  some  of  the  nations 
hitherto  ignorant  of  the  way  of  salvation."  With  these  feelings,  his 
thoughts  again  turned  towards  Madagascar,  but  a  menace  of  apoplexy 
warned  him  that  his  work  was  nearly  done. 

In  the  year  1810  there  were  nearly  one  thousand  inhabitants  at 
Bethelsdorp.  Various  branches  of  industry  were  introduced,  to  the 
profit  of  the  people  in  more  than  one  respect;  and  a  rapid  advance 
towards  civilization  was  apparent.  Fields,  lately  a  barren  wilder- 
ness,  were   covered  with   cattle.      The  manufocture  of  salt  was 


*  Many  have  doubted  whether  missionaries,  as  a  general  rule,  should  be  married. 
It  is  certain  that  women  are  needed  to  assist  them  in  departments  which  they  alone 
are  qualified  to  fill;  whether  these  should  be  the  wives  of  missionaries  it  is  not 
ru'cessary  here  to  inquire. 


J.    T.    VANDERKEMP.  033 

encouraged.  The  evidence  was  clear  that  in  spite  of  adversities 
with  which  it  had  been  compelled  to  struggle,  the  village  was  fast 
repaying  by  its  prosperitj'-  the  care  bestowed  upon  it. 

But  the  venerable  man  who  had  founded  and  watched  over  it  was 
permitted  but  a  short  time  to  continue  or  to  review  his  earthly  work. 
He  abode  at  his  post  till  near  the  end  of  the  year  1811,  when  he  was 
suddenly  arrested  by  a  fever.  His  disorder  made  rapid  progress, 
and  nearly  deprived  him  of  the  power  of  speech.  A  sort  of  lethargy 
subdued  his  faculties  to  such  an  extent  that  his  attention  was  not 
easily  gained.  To  the  question  "what  was  the  state  of  his  mind?" 
he  said,  "All  is  well."  Being  again  asked,  "Is  it  darkness  or  light 
with  you?"  he  briefly  but  emphatically  responded,  "Light!"  And 
so  he  fell  asleep. 

Dr.  Vanderkemp  entered  upon  the  missionary  work  late  in  life, 
and  his  course  was  necessarily  brief,  as  compared  with  the  length  of 
days  during  which  some  of  his  contemporaries  were  permitted  to 
toil.  Nor  was  that  the  only  or  the  chief  disadvantage  arising  from 
this  circumstance.  A  man  beginning  an  entirely  new  course  of  life 
when  nearly  fifty  years  old,  is  liable  to  fail  in  the  power  of  adaptation 
to  his  new  circumstances.  His  habits  are  fixed:  the  flexibility,  the 
vigour  and  the  elasticity  of  youth,  have  been  long  left  behind. 
These  things  were  against  Dr.  Vanderkemp,  and  made  his  great 
gifts  less  iiseful  to  the  mission.  Those  gifts  were  indeed  extraordi- 
nary. Men  of  greater  natural  powers,  and  of  equal  piety,  have 
doubtless  offered  themselves  for  this  service,  but  seldom  have  the 
acquisitions  of  half  a  common  life-time,  spent  in  liberal  profes- 
sional pursuits  or  in  studious  leisure,  been  laid  so  cheerfully  upon 
the  altar. 

The  most  distinguishing  trait  of  his  character  was  an  ingenuous 
simplicity.  Naturally  frank  and  decided,  when  reclaimed  from  infi- 
delity he  was  eminently  a  ivhole-hearted  believer,  and  received  the 
truth  "  as  a  little  child."  His  disregard  of  some  of  the  conventional- 
ities of  life,  in  part  due  to  his  seclusion  as  a  missionary  from  refined 
societv,  gave  him  an  appearance  of  singularity  to  those  who  met  him 
in  Africa.  Dr.  Litchenstein,  who  visited  him  at  Bethelsdorp  in 
company  with  Governor  Jansen,  mentions,  with  a  perceptible  sneer 
runnino'  through  his  whole  description,  that  when  the  venerable 
missionary  met  them,  instead  of  the  common  form  of  salutation,  he 
solemnly  invoked  the  divine  blessing  upon  them.  In  some  men 
this  would  seem  affected,  but  in  Vanderkemp  it  was  the  spontaneous 


334  J.    T.    VANDERKEMP. 

out-flow  of  a  truly  religious  benevolence  to  whicli  his  whole  nature 
was  subdued.  To  use  his  own  expression,  he  felt  that  he  "had  no 
will  of  his  own,"  distinct  from  that  of  the  Master  he  served.  In  this 
spirit  he  lived  and  died,  leaving  to  others  "an  example,  that  they 
should  walk  in  his  steps." 


moRmim  by  j  sAtrjiiT.' 


(J 


-Z-^r  TO   V/EST  AFRICA. 


WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER. 


The  Baptist  mission  in  Liberia,  after  the  deatli  of  Lett  Gary,  lan- 
guished. One  missionary,  a  little  before  that  event,  had  been  sent 
out,  but  fell  a  victim  to  the  climate  in  six  months.  Another  followed, 
and  met  the  same  fate.  The  little  churches  in  the  colony  prospered 
in  the  meanwhile,  but  the  Board  were  chiefly  concerned  for  the 
native  tribes,  and  in  view  of  the  fatal  effects  of  the  climate  upon 
white  men,  sought  in  vain  for  coloured  persons  qualified  to  under- 
take the  mission.  Year  after  year  the  claims  of  Africa  were  pre- 
sented, but  "there  was  no  answer,  neither  any  that  regarded,"  till  in 
1835  two  young  men  offered  themselves  for  the  perilous  service,  one 
of  them  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 

"William  G.  Crocker  was  born  at  Newburyport,  Mass.,  February 
10,  1805.  He  was  religiously  educated,  and  in  his  early  years  gave 
diligent  heed  to  the  instructions  of  his  parents,  toward  whom  he 
ever  behaved  himself  as  a  dutiful  and  affectionate  son.  At  the  age 
of  fourteen  he  was  the  subject  of  profound  religious  impressions,  the 
influence  of  which  abode  upon  his  mind,  though  he  indulged  no 
confident  hope,  nor  professed  his  faith  till  twenty  years  of  age,  when 
his  heart,  after  a  prolonged  struggle,  was  settled  in  a  peaceful  con- 
sciousness of  reconciliation  with  God,  and  he  united  with  the  First 
Baptist  Church  of  Newbury. 

The  circumstances  of  the  family  gave  him  slender  facilities  for  the 
improvement  of  his  mind,  but  these  he  improved  to  the  utmost. 
Thouoh  obliged  regularly  to  spend  half  a  day  with  his  fither  on  a 
shoe-bench,  his  teacher  remarked  that  he  made  greater  progress  in 
the  moiety  of  his  time,  than  a  majority  of  his  school-mates.*  Dis- 
couraged at  the  slowness  of  his  progress,  he  apprenticed  himself  to  a 
printer  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  with  the  hope  of  enjoying  more  ample 
opportunity  for  acquiring  knowledge.  Here  he  remained  two  years. 
But  after  the  more  complete  establishment  of  his  religious  hopes,  he 
became  increasingly  anxious  to  improve  his  mind.     He  felt  a  desire 


836  WILLIAM    G.    CROCKEK. 

for  tlae  Cliristiau  ministry,  yet  shrank  from  the  solemn  responsibil- 
ities of  that  calling.  Unwilling,  however,  to  give  it  up,  he  resolved 
to  pursue  his  studies  as  far  as  his  circumstances  admitted,  leaving 
the  future  to  the  determination  of  Providence.  With  this  view  he 
left  his  printing  office  in  the  autumn  of  1826,  and  commenced  study- 
ing at  home,  replenishing  his  means  by  teaching  a  public  school  for 
two  successive  winters,  and  a  private  school  for  one  year. 

In  the  spring  of  1827  he  disclosed  to  his  pastor  the  desires  he 
entertained  for  the  ministry,  who  laid  the  matter  before  the  church. 
A  regular  license  was  not  granted,  but  he  received  a  certificate  that  he 
possessed  talents  "  which  promised  usefulness  to  the  cause  of  Christ," 
and  authorizing  him  "to exercise  his  gifts  wherever  Providence  might 
call  him."  This  rather  vague  testimonial,  in  connection,  perhaps, 
with  some  verbal  information,  he  interpreted  as  a  virtual  denial  of  his 
request.  It  caused  him  more  pain  than  he  was  willing  to  express, 
and  he  continued  three  years  unable  to  engage  heartily  in  any  secular 
employment,  but  regarding  his  way  to  the  sacred  office  as  closed 
against  him.  At  length,  on  the  advice  of  two  clergymen,  his  case 
was  again  presented  to  the  church,  and  he  was  unanimously  advised 
to  prepare  for  the  ministry.  He  now  went  forward  with  alacrity,  was 
taken  under  the  patronage  of  the  Northern  Baptist  Education  Soci- 
ety, and  connected  himself  with  the  academy  at  South  Reading.  In 
entering  upon  this  course  of  study,  he  expressed  a  profound  anxiety 
with  reference  to  his  moral  and  spiritual  qualifications  for  the  duties 
to  which  he  looked  forward.  "I  have  now  one  great  object  before 
me,"  he  writes,  "for  the  accomplishment  of  which  I  wish  to  concen- 
trate all  the  energies  of  my  body  and  soul.  May  I  ever  feel  that 
my  sufficiency  is  all  of  God !  Never  has  life  appeared  more  desira- 
ble than  it  now  does.  I  wish  to  live,  simply  that  I  may  do  something 
for  the  cause  of  God  before  I  go  hence  to  be  here  no  more.  If  ever 
I  am  able  to  do  this,  it  will  be  all  through  his  grace,  and  to  him  be 
all  the  glory." 

After  spending  a  year  at  South  Heading,  Mr.  Crocker  entered  the 
Newton  Theological  Institution.  "While  watchful  over  his  own 
affijctions  and  attentive  to  his  biblical  and  theological  studies,  he 
was  studious  of  immediate  usefulness.  Besides  occasional  preach- 
ing, tlie  Sabbath  school,  the  social  meeting,  and  other  spheres  of 
Christian  activity  engaged  his  attention,  and  called  forth  his  efforts 
to  do  good.  It  was  during  his  first  year  at  Newton  that  his  thoughts 
turned  to  the  missionary  work,  with  particular  reference  at  first  to 


WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER.  337 

Burmah.  It  had  long  been  his  prayer,  he  remarks,  that  he  might 
employ  his  talents  "where  they  would  be  most  useful.  On  every 
hand  I  see  a  want  of  labourers  in  the  vineyard  of  God.  Even  in 
highly-favoured  New-England,  many  churches  are  calling  for  one 
to  break  to  them  the  bread  of  life.  The  broad  valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi presents  powerful  claims  upon  the  sympathy  and  efforts  of  this 
part  of  our  country."  Bat  though  some  had  gone  to  Burmah,  he 
was  oppressed  by  the  thought  of  their  fewness.  "Nothing,"  he  says, 
"seems  so  pleasant  as  the  thought  of  labouring  for  Christ  in  that 
benighted  land.  The  state  of  my  health  at  the  present  time  seems 
rather  unfavourable,  but  I  hope  by  exercise  and  temperance,  or 
rather  bv  the  blessing  of  God  on  these  means,  to  gain  strength  suf- 
ficient  to  warrant  the  undertaking." 

The  matter  occupied  his  thoughts  for  several  months.  He  counted 
the  cost,  weighed  well  the  responsibilities  of  the  work,  and  the  qual- 
ifications for  attempting  it,  earnestly  seeking  the  divine  direction. 
Foreseeing  that  his  friends  might  interpose  obstacles  to  his  purpose, 
in  case  he  decided  on  foreign  service,  he  avoided  communicating 
Avith  them  on  the  subject  till  the  question  was  settled.  He  decided 
that  it  was  his  duty  to  go  to  the  heathen,  and  in  a  letter  dated  Jan- 
uary  16,  1833,  announced  the  decision  to  his  parents.  After  some 
general  remarks  on  the  duty  of  labouring  cheerfully  "where  God 
would  have  us  be,"  he  went  on  to  say:  "I  hope  the  Lord  has  given 
and  is  giving  me  increasing  evidence  that  he  intends  to  send  me  to 
Burmah;  though  I  can  hardly  persuade  myself  that  he  will  bestow 
on  me  this  abundant  honour.  I  should  have  mentioned  the  subject 
when  I  last  saw  you,  but  for  the  thought  of  giving  you  pain.  How- 
ever, as  I  do  not  intend  to  go  for  two  years,  some  unforeseen  event 
may  prevent  the  accomplishment  of  my  wishes.  I  choose  to  leave 
the  whole  matter  with  Him  who  best  knows  what  to  do  with  me." 
"For  myself,  I  feel  very  unworthy  and  ill-qualified  for  this  service. 
But  He  who  has  said,  'Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the 
gospel  unto  every  creature,'  has  also  said,  'My  grace  is  sufficient.' 
Having  settled  the  question.  Is  it  my  duty?  we  have  only  to  go 
forward,  leaning  on  all-sufficient  grace.  Our  motto  should  be.  What 
ought  to  be  done,  can  be  done.  Let  our  prayer  be  that  God  would 
give  us  grace  to  do  and  suffer  all  his  will  with  cheerfulness." 

As  he  feared,  his  friends  received  the  announcement  with  great 
pain,  and  remonstrated  strongly  against  his  expressed  intention. 
The  circumstance  affected  him  deeply,  but  did  not  affect  his  views 
22 


338  WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER. 

of  dutv,  nor,  of  course,  his  resolution.  In  reply,  lie  wrote:  "I  can 
hardly  think  that,  after  calmly  reflecting,  and  earnestly  seeking 
divine  illumination,  you  would  wish  to  dissuade  me  from  the  great 
and  glorious  work  to  which,  I  trust,  the  Lord  has  called  me.  I 
know  that  your  affection  for  me  is  great.  Of  this  I  have  had  abund- 
ant evidence.  Surely,  then,  if  the  Saviour  has  given  me  a  disposi- 
tion to  carry  the  joyful  tidings  of  salvation  to  the  heathen,  and  some 
evidence  that  he  has  called  me  to  the  work,  you  would  not  deprive 
me  of  the  honour  of  being  thus  engaged  in  his  service.  Much  less, 
I  trust,  would  you  induce  me  to  swerve  from  the  path  which,  after 
much  praj^erful  examination,  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  follow." — "You 
will  perhaps  say.  If  we  knew  it  was  your  duty  to  go  to  heathen  lands, 
we  would  not  object.  But  you  are  aware  that  upon  a  question  like 
this  you  would  hardly  be  prepared  to  decide  impartially.  Your 
inclinations  are  all  on  one  side.  Besides,  it  is  a  question  which  I 
am  required  to  decide  for  myself.  No  other  person  can  have  half 
so  deep  an  interest  in  the  decision.  It  is  certain  that  in  obedience 
to  the  command,  Preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,  some  arc 
required  to  leave  home  and  friends,  and  why  not  myself?  All  that 
I  can  say  is,  that  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain  the  mind 
of  the  Spirit,  it  is  my  duty  to  carry  the  gospel  to  the  heathen.  I 
rejoice  that  God  has  given  me  a  disposition  to  go;  but,  alas,  how 
exceedingly  unqualified  am  I  for  the  high  and  holy  employment!" 
In  accordance  with  the  views  so  energetically  expressed,  he  offered 
himself  on  the  20th  of  May  to  the  Board  of  the  Baptist  General 
Convention  as  a  candidate  for  missionary  service. 

Eegarding  his  future  course  as  settled,  he  gave  himself  with 
renewed  ardour  to  the  work  of  preparation,  but  unlooked-for  obsta- 
cles arose  that  threatened  to  defeat  his  purpose.  In  the  following 
January  his  health  became  so  far  reduced  by  over-exertion,  that  he 
was  compelled  to  leave  the  seminary.  An  absence  of  three  months 
restored  his  impaired  energies;  but  scarcely  had  he  resumed  his 
studies  and  his  Jiopes,  when  he  received  an  intimation  that  the  Board 
were  not  inclined  to  confirm  his  appointment,  on  account  of  some 
instability  in  matters  of  religious  doctrine.  Both  these  checks  had 
a  common  origin,  the  review  of  which  is  instructive. 

His  mind  had  been  led  to  a  consideration  of  the  subject  of  personal 
holiness.  From  much  meditation  on  this  theme  be  came  to  adopt 
higher  views  as  to  the  standard,  and  the  attainable  degree,  of  con 


WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER.  339 

formity  to  the  divine  law  than  lie  had  heretofore  done,  a  change  of 
opinion  and  feeling  which  he  described  as  second  only  in  magnitude 
to  that  which  was  effected  in  his  conversion.  He  conceived  of  faith 
as  the  condition,  and  of  Christ  as  the  all-sufficient  source,  not  merel}- 
of  justification,  but  of  entire  sanctification.  He  had  larger  views  of 
the  promises,  of  tiieir  fulness  and  of  their  certainty,  and  was  embold- 
ened to  seek  for  their  fulfilment  with  an  assured  confidence.  "The 
Saviour,"  he  observes,  "has  said,  '  Whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  in  my 
name,  I  will  do  it.'  'Whosoever  will,  let  him  come  and  take  of  the 
water  of  life  freely.'  Whosoever  and  ivhatsoever, — what  blessed  words !" 
And  in  his  journal  he  says:  "The  Lord  has  been  very  gracious  to 
me  of  late,  in  granting  me  the  light  of  his  countenance,  and  helping 
me  to  plead  for  entire  sanctification.  By  his  grace  assisting  me,  I  am 
determined  to  make  holiness  of  heart  my  grand  object  of  pursuit. 
To  what  high  attainments  may  I  not  be  permitted  to  aspire!  The 
promises  of  God  are  full  and  without  limits." 

It  had  been  well  if,  while  thus  solicitous  for  moral  perfection,  he 
had  been  mindful  of  his  physical  imperfection.  Unlike  the  prom- 
ises, the  strength  of  the  human  body  and  its  capacities  for  endurance 
have  limits,  and  in  his  case  those  limits  were  easily  overpassed.  He 
lost  the  vivid  sense  of  the  desirableness  of  life,  with  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  he  commenced  his  studies,  and  he  was  equally  unmindful 
of  the  bodily  discipline  he  had  more  recently  resolved  upon  in  view 
of  a  missionary  life.  His  devotions  were  protracted  by  the  willing- 
ness of  his  "spirit,"  beyond  the  power  of  his  "flesh,"  to  sustain. 
Sometimes  he  continued  five  or  six  hours,  and  once  a  whole  after- 
noon and  the  succeeding  night,  in  prayer.  Such  vigils,  at  the 
expense  of  a  constitution  naturally  delicate,  were  as  plainly  a  viola- 
tion of  moral  duty  as  any  of  the  spiritual  sins  he  so  sedulously- 
sought  to  eradicate.  They  had  a  speedy  retribution.  His  body 
languished,  his  mind  lost  its  tone,  and  even  his  memory  was  pain- 
fully affected.  From  the  facts  stated  by  his  biographer,  confirmed 
by  his  own  testimony,  it  is  abundantly  manifest  that  both  mind  and 
body  suffered  grievously  from  his  inconsiderate  zeal. 

While  this  process  was  going  forward,  his  mind  became  uneasy 
upon  doctrinal  points.  He  suspected  that  he  had  relied  too  much 
on  the  opinions  of  other  men,  and  too  little  on  the  teachings  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  determined  to  investigate  for  himself  "How  differ- 
ent,'' he  remarks,  "to  take  for  granted  all  that  we  have  l)cen  taught. 
fi-um  what  it  is  to  come  to  the  word  of  God,  and  search  out  (or  our- 


34:0  WILLIAM    G.    CEOCKER. 

selves,  all  tliat  we  need  to  know  respecting  the  doctrines  of  grace! 
A  large  portion  of  the  community  form  their  creed  from  that  of 
others,  rather  than  from  the  Bible."  There  is  some  truth  here,  but 
there  is  more  independent  and  conscientious  study  of  religious  doc- 
trine, after  all,  than  many  people  imagine.  Neither  is  the  rejection 
of  creeds  and  systems  a  self-evident  duty.  Though  not  altogether 
just,  the  shrewd  comparison  by  Dr.  Emmons,  of  the  Bible,  to  the 
planetary  and  stellar  systems,  has  some  grains  of  wisdom,  and  it 
may  be  as  reasonable  to  pay  respect  to  those  conclusions  of  scholars 
and  divines  that  have  obtained  general  acceptance  in  the  church,  as 
it  is  to  give  credit  to  the  ascertained  astronomy,  and  forbear  the  task 
of  doing  over  again  the  work  of  Copernicus,  Kepler  and  Newton. 
It  is  granted,  that  as  moral  truths  are  not,  like  those  of  physical  sci- 
ence, susceptible  of  demonstration,  there  is  a  wide  difference  in  the 
degree  of  deference  to  be  paid  in  those  two  departments  of  investi- 
gation; but,  whatever  may  have  been  the  case  with  Mr.  Crocker,  it 
may  fairly  be  questioned  whether  an  excess  of  independence  in 
these  matters  is  not  sometimes  the  fruit  of  pride,  rather  than  of 
humility. 

Yet  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  who  aspires  to  be  a  teacher  in 
the  church  is  called  to  exercise  peculiar  vigilance  in  regard  to  the 
grounds  of  his  belief,  and  more  especially  is  this  the  duty  of  one 
who  contemplates  a  service  that  may  make  him  the  founder  of 
churches  within  the  domains  of  heathenism.  It  is  no  light  matter 
to  undertake  that  work.  Mr.  Crocker,  however,  was  hardly  in  a 
state  of  mind  or  body  to  conduct  such  an  investigation  temperately, 
and  the  eagerness  with  which  he  pursued  it,  still  further  impaired 
his  power  of  discrimination.  He  shortly  confronted  the  mystery  of 
the  Trinity,  and  stumbled.  And  here,  where  his  original  precau- 
tion to  submit  to  the  arbitrament  of  the  written  word,  without 
recourse  to  human  standards  of  opinion,  was  most  needed,  he 
strangely  abandoned  it,  and  commenced  reading  a  controversial  w^ork 
against  the  doctrine.  Thick-coming  doubts  perplexed  his  mental 
vision.  The  conflict  which  ensued  completed  the  physical  prostra- 
tion which  his  imprudent  ardour  in  devotion  had  done  so  much  to 
effect,  and  compelled  the  suspension  of  his  studies. 

Happily  for  his  peace  of  mind,  he  sought  recreation,  rather  than 
inaction,  and  found  that  which  was  more  especially  needful  to  restore 
the  tone  of  his  s])iritual  constitution.  He  found  on  reaching  his 
home  a  revival  of  religion  in  progress,  which  called  into  healthful 


WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER.  841 

exercise  those  devotional  sentiments  to  wliich  solitude  had  imparted 
a  morbid  quality.  He  emerged  from  the  thorny  mazes  of  meta- 
physical inquiry  into  the  sunlight  of  practical  religious  duty,  and  a 
view  of  the  doctrines  of  grace,  not  as  they  confronted  his  struggling 
understanding,  but  as  they  wrought  on  the  hearts  of  awakened  men, 
stirring  a  genial  sympathy  in  his  own  breast,  gave  new  vigour  to 
his  faith.  He /e/<  their  truth.  They  were  enforced  by  the  "demon- 
stration of  the  Spirit."  From  this  time  to  the  end  of  his  theological 
course  he  walked  in  the  light,  with  singleness  of  eye  and  lightness 
of  heart.  His  prospects  were  clouded,  but  his  faith  in  the  wisdom 
and  kindness  of  Providence  was  unshaken.  Soon  after  leaving 
Newton,  he  again  offered  himself  to  the  Board,  and  was  accepted,  his 
appointment  to  take  effect,  however,  only  after  the  lapse  of  six 
months.  He  was  ordained  at  Salem  in  September,  1834,  and  spent 
the  next  winter  and  spring  in  attendance  on  medical  lectures  at 
Boston,  and  at  Brunswick,  Maine, 

During  this  period  a  change  took  place  in  his  destination  as  a 
missionary.  In  a  conversation  with  Dr.  Bolles,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Board,  the  claims  of  the  African  mission  were  suggested.  He  had 
hitherto  looked  for  an  appointment  to  Burmah,  but  now  a  more 
urgent  call  awakened  new  inquiries.  He  had  felt  and  expressed  a 
deep  interest  in  the  African  race,  and  here  was  an  emergency  that  put 
it  to  the  test.  His  heart  was  true  to  the  occasion,  and  responded  to 
the  claim.  He  chose  Africa  for  his  field  of  labour,  and  signified  his 
willingness  to  be  so  designated,  if  it  were  the  pleasure  of  the  Board. 
They  were  anxious  to  procure  a  missionary  for  that  service,  but  on 
account  of  the  perils  of  a  residence  in  the  climate  of  West  Africa, 
they  declined  the  responsibility  of  advising  him  to  undertake  it,  and 
referred  the  question  entirely  to  his  own  decision.  After  carefully 
considering  it,  he  adhered  to  his  proposal,  and  in  accordance  with  it, 
received  an  appointment. 

In  company  with  Kev.  W.  and  Mrs.  Mylne,  his  associates  in  the 
mission  Mr.  Crocker  embarked  for  Africa  on  the  11th  of  July, 
1835.  Kev.  Mr.  Seys  and  wife,  missionaries  of  the  Methodist 
church  and  Dr.  Skinner,  of  Connecticut,  the  father  of  a  deceased 
missionary,  were  passengers  in  the  same  ship.  In  conjunction  with 
his  companions,  he  maintained  regular  religious  services  on  board, 
and  in  addition  embraced  frequent  occasions  for  religious  conversa- 
tion with  the  officers  and  crew.     He  was  scrupulously  careful  in  his 


342  WILLIAM    G.    CEOCKEK. 

diet,  Jis  a  preparation  for  the  sicklj  atmospliere  lie  was  sliortl}'  to 
breatlie.  "How  long  the  Lord  may  spare  me  to  labour  on  the 
shores  of  Africa, "  he  says,  "  is  a  matter  of  much  uncertainty.  Should 
I  be  permitted  to  live,  may  he  grant  me  grace  to  stand  the  trial  to 
which  my  faith  and  patience  will  undoubtedly  be  subjected!" — 
"Sometimes  I  feel  a  degree  of  confidence  that  God  will  spare  my 
life  a  few  years,  that  I  may  labour  for  benighted  Africa.  I  feel  that 
in  praying  for  long  life,  I  never  was  less  selfish  than  when  praying 
for  this  blessing  in  Africa.  For  it  seems  nothing  less  than  to  pray 
that  I  may  endure  for  years  a  life  of  toil  and  suffering.  Still,  to  be 
enabled  to  live  and  labour  faithfully  and  successfully  for  a  number 
of  years  in  that  long-injured  and  degraded  land  seems  to  me  very 
desirable." 

On  the  10th  of  August,  approaching  the  African  shore,  he  writes: 
"This  morning  I  was  enabled  to  plead  with  some  degree  of  earnest- 
ness for  the  blessing  of  God  to  descend  on  poor  benighted  Africn. 
In  view  of  the  fact  that  Jehovah  has  revealed  himself  as  the  God 
of  the  oppressed,  I  feel  a  strong  confidence  that  he  will  bless  her. 
The  time,  I  trust,  is  not  far  distant,  when  the  shadows  will  disperse, 
and  the  true  light  shine  upon  this  land.  I  may  fall,  and  fall  soon, 
and  those  with  me  may  soon  go  the  way  of  all  the  earth,  yet  the 
promise  of  God  concerning  her,  shall  not  fail."  On  the  morning  of 
the  12th,  the  missionaries  caught  sight  of  Cape  Mesurado,  and  before 
noon  the  brig  dropped  anchor  in  the  port  of  Monrovia.  Mr.  Crocker 
expressed  himself  as  disappointed  at  the  appearance  of  Monrovia 
settlement.  "The  inhabitants  have  turned  their  attention  altoijether 
to  trade,  so  that,  as  far  as  the  land  is  concerned,  the  town  presents 
all  the  appearance  of  uncultivated  nature.  With  the  exception  of 
foot-paths  leading  to  different  parts  of  the  village,  grass,  weeds  and 
bushes  cover  the  whole  ground.  I  have,  however,  seen  one  garden, 
in  which  were  growing  Indian-corn  and  beans.  The  land  is  said 
not  to  be  so  good  here  as  further  back  in  the  countr3^  It  seems 
very  important  that  agriculture  should  receive  more  attention,  as 
the  colonists  are  now  dependent  on  foreign  markets  for  ai'ticles  of 
food,  for  which  they  pay  from  sixty  to  one  hundred  per  cent,  higher 
than  in  America." 

The  missionaries,  while  going  through  the  hazardous  process  of 
acclimation,  and  fixing  on  their  future  station,  decided  to  remain  at 
Millsburg,  a  small  settlement,  twenty  miles  up  the  river.  They  saAv 
at  their  first  entrance  into  Liberia  an  affecting  index  of  the  dan":ers 


WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER.  3-1:3 

they  were  braving.  "The  graves  of  twenty  of  our  missionarv 
brethren  and  sisters  in  tbe  grave-yard  at  Monrovia,"  Mr.  Crocker 
remarks,  "remind  us  of  the  importance  of  having  our  loins  girded 
about,  and  our  lamps  trimmed  and  burning."  The  feeling  was 
deepened  on  his  arrival  at  Millsburg,  and  occupying  the  late  Presby- 
terian mission-house,  the  inmates  of  which  had  been  called  away 
from  their  work.  Thoughts  of  his  final  separation  from  his  native 
land,  of  the  premature  death  of  so  many  missionaries,  of  tlie  dan- 
gers that  frowned  before  him,  for  a  time  depressed  his  spirit.  But 
peace  speedily  followed,  as  he  looked  more  intently  on  the  work 
before  him.  "It  seems  a  privilege,"  he  says,  "to  suffer  for  Christ's 
sake.  It  has  long  been  my  prayer  that  God  would  not  suffer  me  to 
take  pleasure  in  any  thing  but  his  service." 

The  anticipated  dangers  of  the  climate  were  soon  brought  sensi- 
bly to  view.  On  the  7th  of  September,  Mrs.  Mylne  was  seized  with 
the  African  fever.  On  the  19th  her  body  was  consigned  to  the 
grave.  A  month  later  Mr.  Crocker  wrote  to  his  parents:  "I  am 
still  in  the  land  of  the  living,  though  in  the  midst  of  the  dying. 
Three  of  the  eleven  who  came  out  together,  have  gone  the  way  of 
all  the  earth, — two  of  brother  S.'s  family  and  Sister  Mylne.  Most, 
if  not  all  of  us,  have  been  more  or  less  affected  with  the  fever.  I 
had  no  regular  attack  till  about  a  fortnight  ago."  It  confined  him 
only  a  little  more  than  one  day.  Immediately  on  his  recovery,  Mr. 
Mylne  was  attacked,  and  was  for  several  days  in  a  dangerous  con- 
dition. "You  will,  perhaps,  ask,"  he  continues,  "if  I  am  not  by 
this  time  sorry  I  came  to  Africa.  I  can  truly  say,  No.  Every  day 
I  bless  God  for  bringing  me  hither." 

Immediately  on  his  arrival,  he  commenced  learning  the  language 
of  the  Bassas,  to  whom  the  labours  of  the  mission  were  to  be 
directed, — a  tribe,  important  not  only  from  their  numbers,  but  from 
their  connection  with  another,  thousands  of  whom  speak  the  same 
language.  It  was  a  barren,  and  as  yet  unwritten  tongue,  and  was 
acquired  slowly  and  with  difficulty.  Mr.  Crocker  attempted,  during 
tills  tedious  preparatory  process,  to  do  something  for  the  benefit  of 
the  colonists,  who  certainly  needed  all  the  exertions  he  could  put 
forth.  A  large  part  of  the  adults  were  unable  to  read,  and  teachers 
were  few.  The  state  of  morals  was  "as  good  as  could  be  expected 
for  the  class  of  persons  who  compose  it.  It  should  ever  be  borne 
in  mind,"  he  remarks,  "that  this  colony  was  not  settled  by  persons 
like  our  forefathers,  men  of  enliglitened  and  comprehensive  views 


344  WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER. 

with  minds  in  many  cases  liiglily  cultivated,  and  witli  characters 
decidedly  religious.  But  they  are  persons  whose  opportunities  for 
mental  and  moral  improvement  have  been  very  few."  The  state 
of  religion  was  not  abundantly  promising.  Churches  existed  at 
Monrovia;  at  Caldwell,  eight  miles  distant  on  St.  Paul's  river;  at 
Millsburg,  twelve  miles  further  up  the  same  river,  the  then  resi- 
dence of  the  missionaries;  at  Edina,  about  seventy  miles  south- 
east of  Monrovia,  a  town  having  the  sea  on  one  side,  and  a  broad 
expanse  of  water  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  St.  John's  and  Mech- 
lin or  Benson  rivers;  and  at  Bussa  Cove,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river.  Mr.  Crocker  was  faithful  in  admonishing  professed  Chris- 
tians who  lived  inconsistently  with  their  calling,  and  in  rebuking  a 
spirit  of  division  that  appeared  in  the  churches,  but  with  such  uni- 
form Christian  meekness  and  gentleness,  as  greatly  to  win  the  affec- 
tions of  the  people.  His  knowledge  of  medicine  enabled  him  to 
be  useful  to  them  in  sickness;  his  uniform  kindness  to  those  who 
were  in  want,  and  his  disinterested  regard  for  their  welfare,  made 
him  a  frequent  and  valued  counsellor  to  those  in  difiaculty  or  need. 
In  the  autumn  of  1835,  an  encouraging  degree  of  religious  interest 
appeared  in  several  of  the  churches. 

In  January,  1836,  Messrs.  Crocker  and  Mylne  visited  Bassa  Cove 
and  Edina,  and  purchased  a  tract  of  land  between  Edina  and  Bob 
Gray's  Town,  in  a  healthy  locality  for  a  missionary  station.  The 
village  of  Bassa  Cove  had  been  not  long  before  destroyed  by  an 
attack  of  the  natives,  and  the  church  were  without  a  pastor  or  a 
place  of  worship.  Mr.  Crocker  preached  to  them  under  the  shade 
of  trees,  but  the  rainy  season  was  approaching,  and  it  was  thought 
necessary  that  a  meeting-house  should  be  erected  without  delay. 
For  this  purpose,  Mr.  Crocker  went  to  Monrovia  to  procure  the 
needed  materials  and  workmen.  The  journey  was  performed 
mainly  overland,  and  when  he  returned,  the  fatigues  and  exposure 
he  had  undergone  threw  him  into  a  fever,  which  for  a  time  deprived 
him  of  reason,  and  confmed  him  several  days.  "I  may,  perhaps, 
be  blamed  for  exposing  myself  thus,"  he  writes,  "but  we  cannot 
get  along  here  without  doing  so.  We  cannot  have  the  conveniences 
of  civilized  countries.  If  we  travel  by  land,  it  must  be  on  foot, 
either  on  tlie  sea-coast  or  in  the  narrow,  crooked  paths  of  the 
i\atives.  If  we  travel  inland  by  water,  it  must  be  in  canoes,  allow- 
ing but  little  change  in  our  position  while  travelling  miles.     If  we 


WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER.  345 

go  by  sea  from  one  part  of  the  colony  to  another,  it  must  be  in 
small  boats  of  from  six  to  twenty  tons,  where  we  are  liable  to  sleep 
out  on  the  deck,  exposed  to  the  cold  damps  sometimes  five  or  six 
nights  in  succession.  I  would  not  say  this  in  the  spirit  of  murmur- 
ing; I  feel  no  such  disposition.  I  bless  God  that  he  has  brought 
me  here,  and  permits  me  to  suffer  a  little  in  his  cause." 

Desirous  of  becoming  more  rapidly  acquainted  with  the  language 
in  wliich  he  was  to  proclaim  the  truth,  and  of  doing  something  more 
directly  for  the  people,  Mr.  Crocker  went  into  the  interior,  to  Sante 
Will's  place,  to  take  up  his  residence  and  establish  a  school.  Sante 
Will  and  other  chiefs  had  appeared  friendly  to  his  object,  and  promised 
to  send  some  boys  to  Edina,  to  a  school  there,  but  had  neglected  to 
fulfil  their  promises,  and  he  concluded  to  go  among  them.  The 
Bassas  showed  themselves,  indeed,  unpromising  subjoxts  for  instruc- 
tion, indolent  and  deceitful;  with  no  knowlege  and  little  curiosity 
concerning  a  future  state,  but  with  unlimited  belief  in  the  power  of 
witchcraft.  Mr.  Crocker  made  some  progress  in  acquiring  their  lan- 
guage, which  he  reduced  to  writing,  and  compiled  a  spelling-book 
with  simple  moral  lessons.  His  residence  was  a  bamboo  hut,  afford- 
ing a  poor  shelter,  and  his  food  was  cooked  in  the  native  style. 
The  uncertainty  of  his  continued  residence  there,  prevented  the 
building  of  any  more  permanent  dwelling;  but  his  mode  of  life 
did  not  strengthen  his  health,  which  was  still  more  affected  by  the 
exposures  he  suffered  in  a  journey  to  Monrovia,  to  put  his  first  book 
to  press.  Mr.  Mylne  remained  at  Edina,  preaching  to  the  church 
there  and  teaching  a  small  native  school.  Mr.  Crocker  occasionally 
visited  Edina  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  and  laboured  with  cheer- 
fulness against  the  manifold  discouragements  he  found  in  the  fickle- 
ness of  the  people. 

In  Auo-ust,  1837,  public  worship  was  for  the  first  time  attempted 
in  Bassa.  Having  a  competent  interpreter,  about  a  dozen  natives- 
were  assembled  together,  including  Sante  Will;  a  portion  of  Scrip- 
ture was  read  and  explained,  and  prayer  was  offered.  Mr.  Crocker 
then  proceeded  to  give  his  auditors  an  account  of  the  creation,  the 
fall  of  man,  and  the  deluge.  On  their  desiring  to  hear  more  of 
God's  word,  he  gave  them  an  account  of  the  way  of  salvation 
throufdi  Christ.  They  seemed  much  interested,  and  asked  many 
ouestions.  For  several  Sabbaths  the  same  degree  of  interest  con- 
thiued   to  be  manifested,  not  in   itself  offering   much   immediate 


04G  WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER. 

encouragement,  but  as  a  present  indication  of  better  things  in 
the  future. 

At  the  close  of  this  year,  Messrs.  Crocker  and  Myhie  found  them- 
selves so  far  reduced  by  sickness  and  excessive  labour,  that  a  voyage 
to  Cape  Palmas  was  necessary,  on  their  return  from  which,  they 
had  the  satisfaction  to  welcome  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clarke,  sent  out  to 
reinforce  the  mission.  Mr.  Mylne's  health  continuing  feeble,  he 
returned  to  America.  Mr.  Crocker  had  nearly  as  much  reason  to 
make  the  same  voyage,  but  the  necessity  of  caring  for  his  newly- 
arrived  associates  during  the  period  of  their  acclimation,  kept  him 
at  his  post.  The  mission  had  gained  at  Edina  some  slight  return 
for  the  labour  bestowed, — a  native  school  that  made  encouraging 
advancement  in  study,  the  church  considerably  strengthened,  and 
several  of  their  pupils  giving  evidence  that  the  truths  of  religion  had 
made  a  serious  impression  upon  them,  one  of  whom  appeared  mani- 
festly to  have  experienced  a  change  of  heart.  Mr.  Crocker  remained 
in  the  colony,  believing  that,  under  the  circumstances,  he  could  do 
more  there  for  the  furthering  of  the  work  during  Mr.  Mylne's  absence 
than  in  the  interior.  The  two  oldest  native  boys  under  his  charge 
had  made  considerable  progress  in  learning  English,  and  were  able 
to  render  him  valuable  aid.  He  also  commenced  a  translation  of  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew,  from  the  poverty  of  the  language  a  difficult  task. 

The  natives  at  Sante  "Will's  place  had  promised  to  erect  a  larger 
and  more  finished  dwelling  for  his  occupation,  but  were  so  dilatory 
in  their  operations,  that  he  thought  it  expedient  to  resume  his  resi- 
dence among  them  to  hasten  the  work.  Here  he  had  remained 
about  a  year,  engaged  with  his  usual  assiduity  in  the  labours 
assigned  him,  when  he  received  notice,  in  the  spring  of  18i0,  that 
the  resources  of  the  Board  were  so  far  diminished  that  the  mission 
would  be  compelled  to  resign  their  expectation  of  increased  appro- 
priations, but  must  make  some  retrenchment  of  their  expenditure. 
The  intelligence  was  disheartening,  and  came  at  a  time  when  it  told 
most  heavily  on  Mr.  Crocker's  mind,  for  reasons  expressed  in  his 
reply  to  the  communication:  "The  prospects  of  this  mission,"  he 
says,  "previous  to  our  reception  of  the  letter  from  the  Board,  were 
more  flattering  than  ever  before.  We  had  begun  to  collect  female 
children  into  the  school,  with  the  prospect  of  a  gradual  increase," 
[A  great  point  gained,  for  in  nothing  were  the  people  more  pertina- 
cious than  in  opposing  female  education].  "We  saw  the  prejudices 
of  the  people  against  education  slowly  disappearing,  the  field  of 


WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER.  347 

labour  widening,  and  were  looking  with  eager  eye  to  our  beloved 
country  for  additional  associates  in  our  labours.  Two  of  the  bo3^s 
belonging  to  the  school  at  Edina  have  been  baptized,  and  some 
others  have  manifested  much  seriousness."  A  printing-press  was 
needed,  not  only  to  secure  his  translations  already  made,  and  exist- 
ing only  in  manuscript,  from  the  risk  of  loss  or  destruction  in 
the  changes  that  might  come  upon  the  mission  by  sickness  and 
death,  but  to  furnish  new  school-books.  "It  is  true  that  in  this 
country  the  people  cannot  read.  But  the  press  is  required  to  fur- 
nish books,  that  they  may  learn  to  read.  Our  boys,  who  study  the 
native  language,  have  read  what  we  have  published  till  they  are 
tired,  and  now  need  some  new  truth  to  interest  them.  We  can 
teach  them  to  read  English,  but  this  does  not  seem  to  be  the  best 
course,  if  we  wish  the  knowledge  of  God  to  be  generally  diffused. 
A  native  boy  would  probably  better  understand  a  book  in  his  own 
language,  after  six  months  spent  in  learning  to  read,  than  he  would 
the  same  book  in  English  in  four  years.  It  seems  desirable  that 
boys  of  great  promise  should  have  the  stores  of  English  literature 
open  to  them.  But  the  mass  of  children  will  probably  be  obliged 
to  learn  to  read  their  own  language,  or  not  learn  at  all." 

No  mention  was  made  of  his  own  personal  wants.  These  he  had 
disregarded  from  the  first,  accustoming  himself  to  a  mode  of  living 
which  in  his  ascetic  moods  in  America  had  not  been  dreamed  of 
He  denied  himself  of  every  thing  above  the  merest  necessaries  of 
life,  estimated  on  the  lowest  scale  that  he  thought  compatible  with 
health,  in  order  that  his  savings  might  be  available  to  the  increase 
of  his  schools.  His  appeal  was  not  long  after  answered  by  the  send- 
ing out  of  a  press  and  types,  but  no  printer  could  be  procured,  and 
thev  were  useless  to  the  mission.  Meanwhile,  Mr.  Crocker  was 
brouo-ht  through  the  deep  w^aters  of  affliction.  He  had  been  united 
in  marriage,  in  June,  with  Miss  Eizpah  Warren,  a  lady  of  devoted 
piety,  who  had  joined  the  mission  within  a  year.  A  few  weeks  after, 
he  was  seized  with  a  dysentery,  which  reduced  him  to  the  borders  of 
the  grave.  By  the  affectionate  care  of  his  wife,  who  persevered  in 
her  exertions  for  his  recovery  after  his  life  was  despaired  of,  he  was 
brouo-ht  up  to  a  comfortable  degree  of  health.  Scarcely  was  he  con- 
valescent however,  when  she  was  taken  with  the  fever  of  the  cli- 
mate and  after  a  week's  illness,  breathed  her  last.  Her  character 
had  seemed  to  promise  extensive  usefulness  in  the  mission,  and  her 
lo.^s  was  deeply  felt. 


oiS  "WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER. 

Mr.  Crocker  having  some  books  ready  for  the  press,  and  desirous 
of  reviving  his  health  and  spirits  by  a  change  of  air,  repaired  to 
Cape  Palmas.  There  he  remained  about  four  weeks,  and  had  printed 
an  edition  of  a  new  Bassa  spelling-book,  and  a  hymm-book.  He 
returned  much  recruited  by  the  visit,  and  resumed  his  labours.  The 
attendance  on  the  Vv^orship  was  such  as  indicated  a  growing  interest 
in  it.  He  notes,  November  30th:  "Had  about  forty  present  to-day, 
am.ong  whom  were  three  head-men.  Most  of  them  paid  good  atten- 
tion, I  believe  there  is  a  growing  skepticism  among  them,  in  rela- 
tion to  the  power  of  their  grigris  and  grigri  men"  (sorcerers).  "So 
long  as  they  will  permit  me  to  declare  and  reiterate  the  truth  upon 
this  subject,  I  have  hopes  that  it  will  prevail.  There  seems  a  little 
more  regard  for  the  Sabbath  than  formerly,  and  the  people  are  more 
easily  assembled  on  that  da}^  The  head-man  also  invites  females 
to  come,  which  he  has  not  done  till  recently.  These  seem  to  be 
favourable  omens." 

To  add  to  the  satisfaction  thus  expressed,  two  missionary  families 
arrived  on  the  2d  of  December,  bringing  with  them  a  press  and 
types,  and  lumber  for  a  printing-office  and  a  school-house.  It 
seemed,  as  Mr.  Crocker  expressed  it,  that  poor  Africa  was  "not 
wholly  forgotten."  He  expressed  the  liveliest  hopes  for  the  future. 
But  these  gratulations  were  short-lived.  In  a  few  weeks  one  mis- 
sionary pair  fell  under  the  fever.  On  the  3d  of  January  Mrs. 
Fielding  died,  and  on  the  16th  her  husband  followed  her  to  the 
grave.  This  double  blow  was  severely  felt,  yet  faith  triumphed 
over  the  calamity.  "This  event  may  discourage  our  friends  at 
home,"  Mr.  Crocker  wrote,  "  but  it  does  not  discourage  us.  Till  toe 
have  evidence  tJiatTRE  Lord  has  forsaken  us,  we  loill  not  he  disheartened. 
Some  young  men,  who  have  been  turning  their  attention  to  this 
country,  may  be  induced  to  relinquish  their  object,  but  it  will  deter 
none  who  count  not  their  lives  dear  unto  themselves,  if  they  may 
but  honour  their  Saviour,  and  be  found  in  the  path  of  duty." 

The  trial  of  his  faith  speedily  became  more  direct.  His  own 
health  began  to  decline.  The  voyage  to  Cape  Palmas  had  revived 
him  for  an  interval  only,  and  he  soon  found  his  strength  failing. 
Another  trip  to  Cape  Mesurado  gave  partial  and  temporary  relief, 
but  it  became  painfully  evident  that  such  palliatives  were  ineffectual. 
Death  had  no  terrors,  but  the  intermission  of  his  loved  work,  and 
its  probable  cessation  at  no  distant  day,  gave  a. pang  to  his  heart, 
which  faith,  however,  was  able  submissively  to  endure.     "Have  felt 


WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER.  349 

decirous  of  preparing  my  translations,  (Sec,  for  tlie  press  before  I  leave 
the  world,"  he  writes.  "But  God  knows  what  is  best  for  his  cause, 
and  in  his  hands  I  cheerfully  leave  myself  and  all  my  concerns. 
Whether  I  live  longer  or  shorter,  he  will  do  all  things  well."  And 
on  reaching  the  conclusion  that  further  labour  was  then,  at  least, 
out  of  the  question,  and  being  advised  by  his  brethren  that  a  voyage 
to  America  was  necessary,  he  writes:  "It  is  rather  trying  to  my 
feelings  to  be  doing  nothing  where  so  much  needs  to  be  done,  but  I 
cheerfully  resign  myself  into  the  hands  of  infinite  Wisdom.  I  may 
perhaps  be  able  to  do  a  little  more  for  poor  Africa;  but  it  will  be 
a  great  gratification  to  me  if  I  can  be  the  means  of  inducing  others, 
more  efficient  than  myself,  to  join  this  mission,  and  thus  enable  our 
brethren  here  to  carry  forward  what  has  been  so  feebly  begun." 

His  residence  of  nearly  six  years  in  Africa  had  not  been  unprofit- 
able. He  had  reduced  the  language  of  the  Bassas  to  writing,  and, 
besides  preparing  school-books,  had  nearly  ready  for  the  press  the 
Gospels  of  Matthew  and  John.  Education  had  been  carried  forward 
with  some  success,  and,  as  has  been  seen,  souls  had  been  won.  A' 
single  circumstance,  a  hope  deferred,  gave  the  greatest  bitterness  to 
his  disappointment  in  being  forced  from  the  country  at  this  time. 
He  had  been  hitherto  under  the  necessity  of  addressing  the  people 
orally  through  an  interpreter.  Now  that  he  had  sufficiently  famil- 
iarized his  organs  of  speech  to  the  gutteral  utterances  of  their  dialect, 
as  to  be  able  to  preach  with  confidence,  he  felt  keenly  the  necessity 
of  leaving  them.  It  seemed  that  his  work  was  but  just  begun  when 
it  was  cut^ short  by  disease.  He  took  passage  at  Bassa  Cove  on  the 
2d  of  April,  1841,  in  a  vessel  bound  for  America.  During  a  short 
detention  at' Cape  Talmas,  he  remarked  with  pleasure  the  progress 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  mission.  At  Monrovia,  where  he  made 
another  pause,  he  was  treated  with  much  kindness  by  Governor 
Buchanan.  Kesuming  his  voyage,  he  proceeded  to  Sierra  Leone,  and 
remained  eight  days,  affording  him  an  opportunity  to  visit  several 
villages  and°some  of  the  schools  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society. 
"The  principal  good  done  at  Sierra  Leone,"  he  remarks,  "seems  to 
be  done  by  the  missionaries.  The  example  of  white  foreigners 
residing  there  is  in  general  very  bad.  The  continual  infiux  of 
recaptured  natives  prevents  that  progress  in  all  the  refinements  of 
civilized  life,  which  might  be  expected  from  the  means  of  insti'uction 
furnished  by  the  Church  and  Wesley  an  Missionary  Societies."  He 
left  Sierra  Leone,  and  bade  adieu  to  Africa  on  the  18th  of  May. 


350  WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER. 

His  health  was  so  feeble  that  at  times  it  seemed  douhtful  whether 
he  would  live  to  reach  his  native  land.  But  strength  gradually 
returned,  and  after  his  arrival  he  appeared  to  gain  rapidly.  His 
recovered  strength  was  spent  in  labours  for  the  spiritual  profit  of 
his  friends,  and  more  particularly  in  pleading  the  cause  of  Africa. 
The  hopeful  state  of  the  mission,  its  many  encouragements  and 
urgent  necessities,  were  his  continual  theme.  Then  came  a  relapse. 
A  slow  fever  attacked  him,  which  terminated  in  dropsy.  He  was 
confined  to  his  bed  for  more  than  a  year,  during  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  which  his  death  was  continually  looked  for.  His  condition 
permitted  him  to  sleep  but  little,  and  the  friends  who  attended  him 
Avere  greatlj^  privileged  in  listening  to  his  sanctified  conversation. 
A  radiance  as  from  the  excellent  glory  lit  up  his  countenance,  and 
his  lips  seemed  touched  with  a  coal  from  the  altar  of  God.  Once, 
only,  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour,  he  lost  the  assurance  of  faith 
and  hope  that  had  overcome  all  fear  of  death,  and  then  his  face  was 
dreadful  to  look  upon.  But  the  cloud  passed,  and  the  full  sunshine 
of  heavenly  anticipation  again  brightened  his  eye.  His  anxiety  to 
return  to  Africa,  which  he  often  expressed  in  the  early  part  of  his 
illness,  gave  way,  as  all  hope  of  such  a  privilege  receded,  to  a  desire 
to  depart  and  be  with  Christ.  He  said  one  morning  to  his  mother, 
"I  did  not  expect  to  see  you  this  morning.  I  thought  I  should  have 
been  in  heaven  before  the  light  of  this  day.  Death  has  no  terrors 
for  me.  I  cannot  doubt  my  interest  in  God's  love,  nor  my  title  to 
mansions  of  glory." 

After  lingering  in  such  full  view  of  the  sweet  fields  that  invited 
him  from  the  further  shore  of  the  river  of  death,  to  the  surprise  of 
his  friends  and  of  himself  he  was  suddenly  recalled.  His  physicians 
had  ceased  to  attend,  except  occasionally,  to  smooth  his  slow  decline, 
when  S3nTiptoms  of  unexpected  strength  appeared.  He  recovered 
slowly,  and  in  October,  1842,  he  was  once  more  able  to  go  abroad. 
The  change  was  at  first  unwelcome,  but  he  was  ready  to  meet  it. 
"I  know  not,"  he  said,  "what  my  Heavenly  Father  is  going  to  do 
with  me.  It  may  be  he  has  more  work  for  me  to  do  in  Africa.  If 
so,  although  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ  seems  more  desirable,  yet 
I  am  willing  to  go  and  labour  longer.  Not  my  will,  but  thine,  O 
God,  be  done."  As  cold  weather  approached  he  went  southward, 
and  passed  the  winter  in  Savannah.  It  was  impossible  for  him  to 
form  plans  for  the  future,  from  the  uncertainty  that  rested  on  his 
prospects  of  health,  and  he  enjoyed  the  pleasures  of  Christian  hos- 


WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER.  351 

pitality,  witli  tnosc  divine  consolations  that  no  change  of  scene  could 
impair,  looking  trustfully  for  guidance  to  the  hand  that  had  hitherto 
led  his  feet  in  paths  of  righteousness  and  peace. 

The  interests  of  his  mission,  however,  occupied  his  thoughts  and 
drew  warm  appeals  from  his  pen.  He  knew  that  the  service  was 
self-denying  and  hazardous,  but  felt,  also,  that  it  was  necessary. 
•'The  time  may  come,"  he  remarks,  "when  coloured  persons  will  be 
found  able  to  manage  all  the  concerns  of  the  mission,  but  till  then 
white  persons  must  be  willing  to  sacrifice  health  for  the  benefit  of 
Africa.  And  who  that  loves  his  Saviour  and  the  souls  of  his  fellow- 
men,  will  shrink  from  a  little  bodily  suffering,  or  even  from  what 
will  be  called  a  premature  grave,  if  he  may  but  contribute  to  an 
object  so  glorious  as  the  moral  emancipation  of  Africa?  A  man's 
life  is  not  to  be  measured  so  much  by  the  number  of  his  days  as 
by  the  amount  of  good  which  he  is  able  to  accomplish."  A  defi- 
ciency of  zeal  in  doing  good,  a  low  standard  of  piety  and  usefulness, 
appeared  to  him  the  characteristic  of  the  great  majority  of  Chris- 
tians, and  he  sought  both  by  precept  and  example  to  awaken  a  bet- 
ter feeling.  He  had  long  aspired  to  high  moral  attainments,  but 
since  his  near  prospect  of  the  eternal  world,  the  elevation  of  his 
views  was  more  than  ever  noticeable. 

His  health  having  become  so  far  restored  as  to  open  a  prospect 
of  renewed  labour  in  Africa,  he  once  more  offered  himself  for  the 
service,  and  was  accepted  b}^  the  Board.  All  efforts  to  obtain  a 
colleague  in  the  ministry,  or  a  teacher,  failed.  He  was  not,  however, 
called  to  go  alone.  He  was  married  to  one  fitted  in  every  respect 
to  share  his  lot  and  to  sympathize  with  his  spirit;  who  responded  to 
his  proposal  in  full  view  of  the  dangers  she  tempted,  and  against  the 
remonstrances  of  friends,  guided  in  her  decision  by  a  disinterested 
sense  of  duty.  They  sailed  on  the  first  of  January,  1844,  from 
Boston,  having  for  fellow-passengers  Rev.  Messrs.  Bushnell  and 
Campbell,  missionaries  of  the  American  Board  to  the  Gaboon.  The 
voyage  was  prosperous  and  agreeable.  Mr.  Crocker  was  as  usual 
solicitous  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  seamen,  and  on  one  occasion 
exerted  himself  beyond  the  bounds  of  prudence,  The  last  Sabbath 
before  reaching  the  port,  he  preached  on  deck,  and  as  he  considered 
it  his  last  public  address  to  them,  he  was  desirous  that  all  should  be 
present.  Some  of  the  crew  were  unwilling  to  do  so.  He  told  them 
that  he  would  speak  loud  enough  for  them  to  hear  where  they  were. 
He  did  so,  and  with  such  fervour  that  they  were  one  by  one  drawn 


352  WILLIAM    G.    CROCKEK. 

around  him.  But  the  effort  was  too  much  for  him,  and  probably 
hastened  the  climax  of  the  disease  which  was  consuming  him  more 
rapidly  than  had  been  suspected.  Though  sensible  of  weakness,  and 
subject  to  pain  at  times,  he  had  felt  no  anxiety  for  himself  His  only 
fear  was  for  the  health  of  his  wife,  on  whose  account  he  looked  for- 
ward to  their  arrival  in  Africa  with  apprehension. 

The  vessel  anchored  at  Gallinas,  six  weeks  from  Boston,  and 
reniained  there  nine  days.  On  the  25th  of  February  they  reached 
Monrovia,  and  the  next  day  being  the  Sabbath,  he  preached  a  short 
discourse  in  the  afternoon.  He  concluded  the  final  prayer,  quoting 
the  words,  "I  have  fought  a  good  fight;  I  have  finished  my  course; 
I  have  kept  the  faith:  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of 
righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at 
that  day."  The  expression  was  timely.  His  course  was  finished. 
He  began  raising  blood  immediately  on  the  conclusion  of  the  service. 
Active  remedies  were  employed,  but  ineffectually,  and  on  the  second 
day  after, — February  27th,  1844,— he  breathed  his  last.  The  physi- 
cian who  attended  him  said  that  God  must  have  had  a  meaning  in 
brino-ino;  him  to  Africa  to  die,  for  "nothing  but  an  almost  miraculous 
interposition  of  Providence  could  have  preserved  him  thus  long." 

He  had  fought  a  good  fight.  The  mission  he  founded,  lives  rich 
in  the  promise  of  good  to  Africa.  One  and  another  have  fallen  or 
been  compelled  to  retreat  from  a  service  so  dangerous,  but  a  living 
church  attests  the  vital  force  of  the  movement  he  commenced  among 
the  degraded  Bassas.  An  intelligent  and  faithful  native  preacher 
watches  over  its  interests.  For  its  highest  welfare  the  superintend- 
ence of  an  American  missionary  is  needed,  and  it  may  be  hoped 
that  men  will  be  found  worthy  to  succeed  the  daring  and  self-sacri- 
ficing pioneers.  But,  in  any  event,  we  may  be  assured  that  He  "  who 
openeth  and  no  man  shutteth,"  by  whose  providence  the  gospel  has 
found  entrance  among  that  people,  will  find  fit  instruments  to  do 
his  work. 

Mr.  Crocker  was  not  endowed  with  commanding  intellectual  gifts, 
and  that  literary  culture  that  enables  a  mind  by  thorough  discipline 
to  act  with  a  degree  of  skill  which  partly  compensates  for  lack  of 
strength,  was  but  partially  enjoyed  by  him.  But  the  intensity  and 
singleness  of  his  zeal  had  a  power  to  concentrate  his  faculties,  and 
enabled  him  to  act  with  unusual  force,  in  this  respect  operating 
beneficially  on  both  his  intellectual  and  his  moral  progress.  His 
religious  ardour  was  kindled  from  on  high    and  fed    by  habitual 


•WILLIAM    G.    CROCKER.  353 

cominunion  with  truth  and  with  Him  who  is  himself  The  Truth. 
It  was  not  sufficiently  alloyed  with  prudence ;  had  he  been  con- 
tent to  advance  more  slowly,  he  might,  humanly  speaking,  have 
advanced  further.  While,  however,  his  example  is  not  to  be  com- 
mended without  qualification — and  of  whom  must  not  as  much  be 
said? — the  spirit  he  displayed,  his  unselfish  devotion,  the  purity  and 
rectitude  of  his  purpose,  his  manly  earnestness  and  almost  feminine 
tenderness,  form  in  their  combination  a  character  that  may  be  fitly 
admired  and  safely  imitated. 
23 


LOTT    GARY. 


We  have  seen  more  than  one  who  distinguished  himself  in  the 
missionary  service  of  the  church,  like  the  first  promulgators  of  the 
gospel,  called  into  the  work  from  the  condition  of  day-labourers  or 
from  mechanic  crafts.  The  same  resolution  that  raised  their  spirits 
above  the  level  of  daily  toil,  and  that  nerved  them  in  the  steep 
ascent  towards  a  more  commanding  intellectual  position,  united  with 
the  ardour  of  Christian  philanthropy  that  directed  their  energies 
to  the  attainment  of  the  highest  objects  to  which  it  is  possible  for 
human  powers  to  aspire,  furnished  impulse  at  every  step  of  theii 
progress.  The  time  has  been  that  such  men,  under  the  influence  of 
an  erroneous  faith,  might  have  been  canonized  for  the  religious  ven- 
eration of  after  ages.  The  same  force  of  will,  exerted  in  a  worldly 
enterprise,  would  have  won  the  meed  of  poetic  or  historic  fame. 
They  stand  in  need  of  neither;  their  record  is  on  high.  For  our 
sakes  it  is  good  to  commemorate  their  virtues,  and  consider  well 
what  they  wrought  for  God  and  man.  But  the  subject  of  the  present 
sketch  rose  not  merely  from  a  life  of  servile  toil.  Emancipated  from 
a  condition  of  hereditary  bondage,  he  became  a  spiritual  benefactor 
of  his  inj  ured  race. 

LoTT  Gary  was  born  in  Gharles  Gity  county,  Virginia,  about  the 
year  1780.  Ilis  father  was  a  pious  member  of  a  Baptist  church. 
His  mother  shared  the  same  spiritual  immunity,  though  not  con- 
nected with  any  church,  and  their  only  child,  it  is  presumed,  was  as 
faithfully  brought  up  as  the  restraints  of  their  condition  admitted. 
In  1804,  he  was  removed  to  Richmond,  and  employed  as  a  common 
labourer  in  a  tobacco  warehouse.  Here  he  became  dissipated  in  his 
manners,  given  to  profaneness  and  to  habits  of  intoxication,  but 
subsequently  was  reclaimed  from  his  evil  courses,  and,  having  given 
evidence  of  a  radical  change  of  character,  was  baptized  in  1807,  and 
united  with  the  first  Baptist  church  in  Richmond.  At  this  time  he 
was  extremely  ignorant,  unable  to  read  or  write.     The  hearing  of  a 


856  LOTT     GARY. 

discourse  on  the  third  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  John,  interested  him 
so  deeply,  that  he  formed  the  resolution  to  learn  to  read,  that  he 
might  peruse  the  narrative  for  himself.  He  procured  a  testament, 
and  commenced  learning  his  letters,  A  young  man  in  the  ware- 
house assisted  him,  and  in  a  short  time  he  was  able  to  read  the 
chapter.     He  soon  after  learned  to  write. 

About  this  time  he  began  to  hold  meetings  with  the  coloured 
people  in  Eichmond,  with  such  success  that  the  church  licensed  him 
to  preach,  and  his  ministrations  were  valued,  not  only  in  that  city, 
but  in  all  the  surrounding  country.  His  leisure  time  was  diligently 
improved  in  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.  When  not  otherwise 
engaged  at  the  warehouse,  he  was  always  reading.  A  gentleman 
taking  up  a  book  which  he  had  laid  aside  for  a  few  moments,  had 
the  curiosity  to  examine  it;  it  was  Smith's  "Wealth  of  Nations." 
With  growing  intelligence,  the  value  of  his  services  increased.  No 
man,  white  or  black,  showed  equal  capacity  in  the  business.  He 
frequently  received  gratuities  in  money  by  way  of  acknowledge- 
ment for  his  fidelity  and  promptness,  and  was  allowed  to  sell  some 
parcels  of  waste  tobacco  for  his  own  benefit.  By  strict  economy, 
and  the  aid  of  the  merchants  who  had  learned  to  esteem  his 
uprightness  of  character  while  in  their  service,  he  purchased  his 
freedom  and  that  of  his  children, — his  wife  had  previously  died, — 
and  he  was  then  employed  at  a  liberal  salary. 

About  the  year  1815,  he  became  interested  in  the  subject  of 
missions  to  Africa,  and  was  instrumental  in  exciting  a  similar  feel- 
ing among  the  coloured  people  of  Eichmond.  The  Eichmond 
African  Missionary  Society  was  formed,  and  contributed  annually 
from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to  the  funds  of 
the  Baptist  General  Convention.  In  no  long  time  he  began  to  enter- 
tain a  more  personal  interest  in  the  subject.  Was  it  not  his  duty  to 
do  more  than  contribute  of  his  earnings  to  send  others  to  the  hea- 
then? The  question  was  painful,  for  he  had  ties  of  interest  and 
affection  binding  him  to  Eichmond,  that  were  not  easily  broken. 
He  had  a  comfortable  income  and  excellent  prospects  ahead,  was 
highly  esteemed  in  his  business  relations,  and  both  useful  and 
respected  as  a  preacher.  He  had  the  confidence  and  warm  affection 
of  the  entire  coloured  population.  The  thought  of  giving  up  all 
this  for  a  more  limited  sphere  of  immediate  usefulness,  augmented 
toil  in  an  unhealthy  climate,  and  the  privation  of  many  of  those 
comforts  which  habit  had  made  necessary,  could  not  be  entertained 


LOTT     GARY.  857 

without  severe  conflict.  But  a  sense  of  dut}^  compelled  the  sacri- 
fice, which  had,  however,  one  alleviation, — he  would  escape  from 
the  bondage  of  caste  into  a  country  where  his  colour  was  no  mark 
of  ignominy.  "I  am  an  African,"  he  said,  "and  in  this  country, 
however  meritorious  my  conduct  and  respectable  my  character,  I 
cannot  receive  the  credit  due  to  either.  I  wish  to  go  to  a  country 
where  I  shall  be  estimated  by  my  merits, "not  by  my  complexion; 
and  I  feel  bound  to  labour  for  my  suffering  race."  His  employers 
endeavoured  to  reverse  his  determination  by  an  increase  of  his  salary, 
but  his  purpose  was  not  to  be  shaken. 

The  journal  of  Messrs.  Mills  and  Burgess,  agents  of  the  American 
Colonization  Society  for  exploring  the  coast  of  Africa,  which  was 
published  in  1819,  with  letters  from  settlers  at  Sierra  Leone  to  the 
coloured  people  in  America,  brought  Mr.  Gary  to  an  immediate 
decision.  He  was  accepted  by  the  society  as  one  of  their  first  com- 
pany of  emigrants,  and  with  Colin  Teague,  was  appointed  to  a 
mission  in  Africa  by  the  Board  of  the  Baptist  General  Convention. 
The  year  1820  was  chiefly  spent  in  study,  and  in  January,  1821, 
Messrs.  Cary  and  Teague  were  publicly  ordained  to  the  missionary 
work.  Mr.  Cary's  farewell  sermon  was  pronounced  by  a  clergyman 
who  listened  to  it  the  most  eloquent  pulpit  address  he  ever  heard ; 
it  produced  an  immense  effect  on  a  large  assembly. 

The  company  sailed  on  the  23d  of  January,  and  arrived  at  Free 
Town,  Sierra  Leone,  after  a  passage  of  forty-four  days.  The  Colo- 
nization Society  had  not  yet  succeeded  in  purchasing  any  territory, 
and  their  agents  declined  to  receive  Messrs.  Cary  and  Teague  in  the 
character  in  which  they  were  sent  out.  They  were  obliged  to  serve 
as  mechanics  and  labourers  till  others  should  arrive.  But  in  the 
following  year  the  territory  of  the  present  republic  of  Liberia  was 
acquired,  and  a  colony  commenced.  The  intervening  time  spent  at 
Sierra  Leone  was  one  of  peculiar  hardship.  Mr.  Cary  had  expended 
his  own  property  in  his  outfit,  and  the  appropriation  of  the  Board 
of  Missions  was  insufficient  for  his  support,  while  his  unsettled  rela- 
tions to  the  Colonization  Society  made  it  impossible  to  look  for 
essential  aid  from  that  quarter.  To  add  to  these  troubles,  Mrs.  Cary, 
his  second  wife,  sickened  and  died,  leaving  him  with  a  family  of 
children  dependant  upon  his  sole  care, — a  sad  beginning  of  the  years 
of  his  exile. 

On  the  purchase  of  the  territory  at  Cape  Montserrado,  in  1822,  and 
the  transfer  of  the  colonists  thither,  Mr.  Cary  was  appointed  health 


358  LOTT     GARY. 

officer  and  government  inspector.  The  colony  was  in  an  exposed 
condition;  the  hostihty  of  the  native  tribes  was  so  violent  that  it 
was  proposed  to  give  up  the  settlement,  and  return  to  Sierra  Leone. 
Mr.  Gary  strenuously  opposed  this,  and  his  resolute  decision 
emboldened  others.  His  services  in  the  defence  of  the  colony,  when 
its  entire  destruction  was  threatened,  were  of  the  most  important 
character.  At  one  time,  when  fifteen  hundred  savages  were  rushing 
in  to  exterminate  the  settlers,  whose  broken  ranks  were  ready  to 
give  way,  his  courage  animated  them  to  renewed  exertions  and  to 
a  complete  victory.  Despondency  was  a  stranger  to  his  breast. 
Although,  as  he  said,  their  work  was  "almost  like  building  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem;  we  have  to  carry  our  axes  all  day  and  our  muskets 
all  night;" — he  yet  wrote  to  his  friends  in  America,  "If  you  think 
of  coming  out,  you  need  not  fear,  for  you  will  find  as  fine  a  spot  as 
ever  your  eyes  beheld ;  the  best  for  fish  that  I  ever  saw.  It  is  cer- 
tainly a  beautiful  place."  Besides  his  other  labours,  the  lack  of 
adequate  medical  attendance  led  him  to  pay  special  attention  to  the 
diseases  of  the  country,  by  which  he  became  a  valuable  adviser  of 
the  sick,  and  for  the  relief  of  the  afflicted  and  destitute  he  made 
liberal  sacrifices  of  time  and  property.  He  was  shortly  after 
involved  in  some  seditious  movements,  which  threatened  the  author- 
ity of  the  government,  and  kept  the  colony  in  a  critical  state  for 
several  months.  The  troubles  grew  out  of  some  misunderstanding 
between  the  Colonization  Society  and  the  settlers.  The  latter 
deemed  themselves  injured,  and  Mr.  Gary  seems  to  have  sympa- 
thized with  them  to  some  extent,  and  to  have  abetted  proceedings 
which  were  condemned  by  the  Society.  But  while  acting  in  some 
manner  as  a  mediator  between  the  contending  parties,  he  gave  his 
influence  to  restore  the  full  authority  of  the  laws.  Mr.  Ashmun, 
in  communicating  the  transaction,  remarked  that  Mr.  Gary's  con- 
duct was  entitled,  on  account  of  his  eminent  services,  "to  the  most 
indulgent  construction  it  will  bear.  The  hand  which  records  the 
lawless  transaction  would  long  since  have  been  cold  in  the  grave, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  unwearied  and  painful  attentions  of  this  indi- 
vidual, of  every  description,  rendered  at  all  hours,  and  continued 
for  several  months," 

These  laborious  and  embarrassing  pursuits,  though  demanding 
no  small  share  of  energy  and  patience,  did  not  divert  his  mind  from 
the  object  which  primarily  led  him  to  seek  an  abode  in  Africa.  He 
was  untiring  in  efibrts  to  promote  the  interests  of  the  church  which 


LOTT    OAKY.  359 

he  formed  at  Eichmond  and  establislied  at  Monrovia,  and  to  instruct 
the  Africans  who  had  been  rescued  from  slave-ships,  and  placed 
under  the  protection  of  the  colony.  It  was  his  privilege  to  receive 
a  considerable  number  to  their  fellowship,  including  two  or  three 
converts  from  among  the  heathen.  He  established  a  school  at  Mon- 
rovia, and  made  an  effort  to  commence  another  at  Grand  Cape  Mount, 
about  seventy  miles  distant,  but  for  the  present  without  success.  In 
1824  he  had  a  more  responsible  task  imposed  upon  him,  that  of 
physician  to  the  colony.  For  this  he  was  qualified  by  his  good  sense 
and  careful  observation  and  study,  aided  by  the  counsel  of  regular 
physicians  who  had  visited  Liberia.  These  made  him  a  very  suc- 
cessful practitioner.  A  thorough  knowledge  of  the  diseases  of  that 
climate  had  been  forced  upon  his  mind  by  causes  before  alluded  to, 
and  he  had  occasionally  prescribed  for  the  sick,  but  he  was  now 
their  sole  adviser,  and  proved  himself  equal  to  the  duty. 

Of  his  ministerial  and  missionary  labours  he  writes  in  January, 
1825:  "The  Lord  has  in  mercy  visited  the  settlement,  and  I  have 
had  the  happiness  to  baptize  nine  hopeful  converts ;  besides,  a  num- 
ber have  joined  the  Methodists.  The  natives  are  more  and  more 
friendly;  their  confidence  begins  to  awaken.  They  see  that  it  is 
our  wish  to  do  them  good,  and  hostilities  have  ceased  with  them.  I 
have  daily  applications  to  receive  their  children,  and  have  ventured 
to  take  three  small  boys, — Our  Sunday-school  still  goes  on,  with 
some  hopes  that  the  Lord  will  ultimately  bless  it  to  the  good  of 
numbers  of  the  untutored  tribes.  The  natives  attend  our  Lord's 
day  worship  quite  regularly."  In  April  he  chronicles  the  reception 
of  the  first  of  the  converts  from  the  heathen,  before  alluded  to,  and 
the  arrival  of  sixty  colonists  from  America,  on  the  same  day,  made 
the  occasion  one  of  redoubled  joy.  "Dear  brother,"  he  writes  to 
the  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Missionary  Society  at  Richmond, 
which  he  had  aided  to  form,  and  with  which  he  esteemed  himself 
as  more  immediately  connected,  "tell  the  Board  to  be  strong  in  the 
Lord  and  in  the  power  of  his  might,  for  the  work  is  going  on  here, 
and  prospers  in  his  hands ;  that  the  Sunday-school  promises  a  great 
and  everlasting  blessing  to  Africa;  and  on  the  next  Lord's  day  there 
will  be  a  discourse  on  the  subject  of  missions,  with  a  view  to  get  on 
foot,  if  possible,  a  regular  school  for  the  instruction  of  native  chil- 
dren." And  in  June  he  writes:  "I  know  that  it  will  be  a  source  of 
much  gratification  to  you  to  hear,  that  on  the  18th  of  April,  1825, 
we  established  a  missionary  school  for  native  children.     "We  began 


360  LOTT    GARY. 

with  twentj-one,  and  have  increased  since  up  to  the  number  of 
thirty-two." 

In  the  autumn  of  this  year,  Mr.  Gary  was  invited  by  the  Board 
of  the  Colonization  Society  to  visit  the  United  States,  believing 
that  his  statements  would  strengthen  their  hands,  and  that  his 
influence  would  have  a  favourable  effect  upon  the  coloured  popula- 
tion of  this  country.  He  was  desirous  of  undertaking  the  voyage, 
not  only  for  the  purposes  contemplated  by  the  society,  but  to 
awaken  an  increased  interest  in  his  missionary  plans,  and  to  stir  up 
the  zeal  of  some  whom  he  believed  qualified  to  be  useful  as  preach- 
ers and  teachers.  Arrangements  were  made  for  his  departure  the 
following  April,  and  he  was  furnished  with  the  most  flattering  testi- 
monials by  Governor  Ashmun,  but  the  health  of  the  colony,  partic- 
ularly of  the  recent  immigrants,  was  not  such  that  his  services 
as  physician  could  be  safely  dispensed  with.  The  visit  was  post- 
poned, and  finally  abandoned.  In  letters  by  the  vessel  in  which  he 
expected  to  sail,  he  mentions  the  dedication  of  a  meeting-house  a  few 
months  before,  and  adds :  "  Our  native  schools  still  continue  to  go  on 
under  hopeful  circumstances.  I  think  the  slave-trade  is  nearly  done 
in  our  neighbourhood.  The  agent,  with  our  forces,  has  released 
upwards  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  from  chains  since  the  1st  of 
October,  which  has  added  greatly  to  our  strength.  If  the  coloured 
people  of  Virginia  do  not  think  proper  to  come  out,  the  Lord  will 
bring  help  to  the  colony  from  some  other  quarter,  for  these  recap- 
tives  are  ready  to  fight  as  hard  for  the  protection  of  the  colony  as 
any  of  the  rest  of  the  inhabitants.  I  mention  these  circumstances, 
that  you  may  look  through  them  to  the  time  foretold  in  prophecy : 
'Ethiopia  shall  stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God.'  We  have  very 
few  meetings  but  that  some  of  the  native-born  sons  of  Ham  are 
present,  and  they  begin  to  learn  to  read  and  sing  the  praises  of 
God.  I  should  think  that  among  your  large  population  of  coloured 
people,  if  the  love  of  themselves  did  not  bring  them  out,  the  love 
of  God  would,  for  here  is  a  wide  and  extensive  missionary  field." 

The  indefatigable  and  successful  exertions  he  had  made  for  the 
welfare  of  the  colony,  naturally  attracted  to  him  the  esteem  of  the 
community,  and  in  September,  1826,  he  was  appointed,  with  the 
general  approbation,  vice-agent.  His  familiarity  with  all  their 
concerns  from  the  first,  the  share  he  had  had  in  the  defence  and  the 
improveiT^ient  of  the  settlcincnt,  and  the  sterling  sense,  sound  judg- 


LOTT    GARY.  361 

ment,  steadfast  courage,  and  public  spirit  wliicli  he  had  uniformly 
displayed,  pointed  him  out  as  the  person  best  qualified  to  meet  the 
present  and  possible  responsibilities  of  the  office.  Nor  were  these 
expectations  disappointed  when,  early  in  1828,  Mr.  Ashmun  was 
obliged  by  the  state  of  his  health  to  return  to  the  United  States, 
leaving  the  entire  executive  responsibility  in  his  hands. 

Before,  however,  this  increase  of  official  duty  had  come  upon 
him,  to  withdraw  his  attention  the  more  from  his  missionary  work, 
he  had  the  satisfaction  of  succeeding  in  his  long-cherished  design 
of  founding  a  school  at  Grand  Cape  Mount,  This  was  accomplished 
in  November,  1827.  The  king  and  his  head  men,  on  being  informed 
of  the  purpose  of  the  mission,  gave  their  cordial  approbation,  fitted 
up  a  school-house,  and  agreed  on  the  regulations  for  the  school. 
Thirty -seven  pupils  were  received.  "The  heathen  in  our  vicinity," 
he  writes,  "are  so  very  anxious  for  the  means  of  light,  that  they 
will  buy  it — beg  it — and,  sooner  than  miss  of  it,  they  will  steal  it. 
To  establish  this,  I  will  mention  a  circumstance  which  actually  took 
place  in  removing  our  school  establishment  up  to  C.  M.  I  had 
upwards  of  forty  natives  to  carry  our  baggage,  and  they  carried 
something  like  two  hundred  and  fifty  bars;*  a  part  of  them  went 
on  four  days  beforehand,  and  had  every  opportunity  to  commit  depre- 
dations, but  of  all  the  goods  that  were  sent  and  carried  there,  nothing 
was  lost  except  fifteen  spelling-books;  five  of  them  we  recovered 
again.  I  must  say,  that  I  was  almost  pleased  to  find  them  stealing 
books,  as  they  know  that  you  have  such  a  number  of  them  in  America, 
and  that'they  can,  and  no  doubt  will,  be  supplied  upon  better  terms." 

These  labours  of  love,  though  impeded,  were  not  suspended,  by 
the  arduous  duties  devolved  upon  him  by  the  departure  of  Mr.  Ash- 
mun. With  the  increase  of  his  burdens,  his  strength  seemed  to  be 
the  more  fully  developed  to  sustain  them,  and  all  the  interests  of 
the  colony  were  vigilantly  and  wisely  cared  for.  But  a  melancholy 
accident  put  an  end  to  his  earthly  tasks,  in  the  vigour  of  his  days 
and  the  height  of  his  usefulness.  A  factory  at  Digby,  a  few  miles 
north  of  Monrovia,  belonging  to  the  colony,  was  robbed  by  the 
natives  in  the  autumn  of  1828,  and  shortly  after  was  occupied  by  a 
slave-trader.  He  received  warning  to  quit  the  place,  but  persisting 
in  his  defiance,  Mr.  Gary  made  preparations  to  dislodge  him.  Oa 
the  evening  of  the  8th  of  November,  as  he  was  with  several  per- 
sons in  the  old  agency-house,  engaged  in  making  cartridges,  fire 
*  A  bar  is  seventy-five  cents. 


362  LOTT    GARY. 

was  communicated  to  some  loose  powder  on  the  floor,  and  exploded 
the  entire  ammunition,  resulting  in  the  death  of  eight  persons.  Mr. 
Gary  lingered  till  the  10th  of  November,  when  his  life  ended,  to 
the  great  loss  of  the  colony,  that  relied  much  upon  his  vigour  and 
fidelity,  and  the  grief  of  his  brethren  in  America. 

The  character  of  Lott  Gary  was  strongly  marked.  Quickness  of 
perception  and  ease  of  acquisition  were  united  to  a  thirst  for  knowl- 
edge, that  made  him  as  laborious  and  persevering  as  if  the  task  had 
been  far  more  arduous.  It  may  be  questioned,  however, — or  we 
might  rather  say  it  is  unquestionable,  that  in  whatever  degree  the 
elements  of  so  aspiring  a  temper  may  have  existed  in  his  nature,  they 
were  mainly  quickened  and  brought  to  light  by  the  influence  of 
religious  principle.  It  was  when  he  was  animated  by  a  desire  to 
do  good  and  to  honour  his  Divine  Master,  elevating  him  at  once 
above  the  low  atmosphere  of  selfish  pursuits,  that  he  showed  what 
he  was  capable  of  becoming.  The  executive  power  and  skill  that 
he  developed,  considering  how  greatly  a  state  of  servitude  tends  to 
dwarf  this  species  of  capacity,  were  remarkable.  There  was  a 
steady,  practical  judgment,  a  faculty  of  adaptation,  a  readiness  of 
resource,  that  every  new  exigency  brought  more  clearly  to  light. 
These,  united  to  unusual  powers  of  persuasion,  qualified  him  to  act 
well  his  part  wherever  he  might  be  placed,  while  an  ingenuous 
modesty  restrained  him  from  overacting  it. 

The  religious  affections  that  gave  the  chief  impulse  to  his  mind, 
steadily  directed  his  efforts.  It  was  a  missionary  spirit  that  prima 
rily  sent  him  to  Africa,  and  if  the  desire  of  his  own  heart  had  been 
gratified,  he  would  have  left  the  secular  cares  of  the  colony  to  the 
direction  of  others,  and  expended  all  his  energies  for  the  evangeli- 
zation of  his  race.  But  a  wise  Providence  imposed  upon  him 
duties  from  which  he  felt  himself  not  at  liberty  to  shrink,  and  he 
discharged  them  well.  As  a  physician,  though  in  a  great  measure 
self-instructed,  he  became  the  preserver  of  many  lives.  And  in  the 
various  civil  trusts  reposed  in  him,  he  acquitted  himself  in  a  man- 
ner that  did  honour  to  himself,  and  proved  of  eminent  advantage 
to  Liberia  in  its  feeble  beginnings.  That  rising  republic  is  destined, 
as  we  believe,  to  occupy  a  distinguished  place  in  the  future  of 
Africa,  and  it  is  indebted  in  no  ordinary  degree  to  his  agency, 
under  the  blessing  of  a  watchful  Providence,  for  the  high  promise 
of  its  youth.     In  its  coming  greatness,  his  memory  will  not  be  lost. 


MELVILLE  BEVERIDGE  COX. 


Melville  Beveridge  Cox,  tlie  first  missionary  sent  to  Africa 
by  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States,  was  born 
at  Hallowell,  Maine,  November  9th,  1799.  His  parents  were  in 
moderate,  and  latterly  in  poor  circumstances,  but  had  received  more 
than  average  education  for  their  times  and  station  in  societ3^  Their 
straitened  circumstances  caused  their  sons  to  leave  the  parental  roof 
at  an  early  age;  Melville  was  separated  from  them  at  ten  years  of 
age.  He  had  been,  however,  carefully  trained,  both  mentally  and 
morally,  and  the  religious  instructions  of  his  childhood  made  an 
impression  that  never  left  him.  He  was  placed  with  a  farmer,  and 
continued  in  his  service  till  his  seventeenth  year.  But  the  limited 
"schooling"  he  enjoyed  was  not  sufficient  to  satisfy  his  love  of 
knowledge,  and  with  the  approbation  of  his  friends  he  accepted  a 
place  in  a  bookstore  in  Hallowell.  The  stock  of  the  bookseller 
was  not,  it  may  be  conjectured,  very  extensive,  and  on  the  common 
principles  of  "supply  and  demand,"  it  is  likely,  not  over  choice,  but 
the  young  shop-boy  improved  his  opportunities  to  the  utmost.  Here 
ho  "completed  his  education."  If  it  was  not  sufficiently  profound 
to  entitle  him  to  an  academic  degree,  the  aliment  it  furnished  his 
mind  was  acquired  with  greater  eagerness,  and  was  probably  more 
thoroughly  assimilated  than  if  it  had  been  more  abundant. 

His  earliest  religious  impressions  were  derived  from  maternal 
instruction,  and  at  different  times,  from  his  tenth  year  forward,  they 
were  peculiarly  deep  and  vivid.  In  his  nineteenth  year,  after  a 
considerable  period  of  indifference,  they  overpowered  him.  The 
immediate  occasion  of  them  was  the  conversation  of  a  cousin  recently 
converted,  as  they  were  walking  together  after  attending  the  obse- 
quies of  her  father.  For  three  weeks  he  was  in  a  state  of  extreme 
mental  agitation,  which  he  was  at  special  pains  to  conceal,  but  at 
length  found  "peace  in  believing."  He  showed  the  reality  and 
power  of  his  faith  by  a  consistent  life,  and  one  of  great  religious 
activity.     It  is  believed  that  not  a  few,  either  here  or  now  with  him 


36-i  MELVILLE    B.    COX. 

in  Paradise,  trace  to  his  faitliful  endeavours  their  awakening  to  a 
consideration  of  their  immortal  interests. 

A  circumstance  occurred  in  the  year  1820,  the  narration  of  which 
will  be  regarded  with  diverse  feelings  by  different  minds, — to  some 
suggesting  nothing  higher  than  the  working  of  a  heated  imagination ; 
to  others  presenting  an  aspect  of  something  more  mysterious.  We 
may  say — safely  enough — in  the  cautious  phraseology  of  the  daily 
journalists,  that  it  was  a  "remarkable  coincidence."  His  brother 
James  was  master  of  a  vessel  then  on  her  passage  to  New  Orleans, 
James  was  a  young  man  of  irreproachable  morals,  but  careless  of 
religion.  Melville  and  another  brother  frequently  united  in  prayer 
on  his  behalf  One  evening,  at  sunset,  they  visited  their  customary 
retirement  in  a  neighbouring  wood  for  this  purpose,  and  the  exercise 
was  characterized  by  unwonted  fervour  and  tenderness.  The  next 
morning  their  thoughts  recurred  to  the  same  theme,  and  to  the  unac- 
customed enjoyment  they  found  in  their  intercessions  the  previous 
evening.  "What  do  you  think?"  said  Melville  to  his  younger 
brother.  "I  think  James  has  experienced  religion^''  he  replied. 
"Well,"  said  Melville,  "I  think  he  is  dead."  He  made  a  note  of 
this  impression.  In  a  few  weeks  came  tidings  that  their  brother 
died,  and  on  that  same  evening  that  witnessed  their  earnest  suppli- 
cations for  him.  It  was  not  till  the  return  of  the  vessel  that  they 
learned  anything  to  indicate  his  spiritual  condition  at  the  period  of 
his  decease.  They  were  then  informed  that  through  the  entire  voy- 
age he  showed  unusual  seriousness,  and  by  his  papers  it  appeared 
that  the  subject  of  religion  pressed  weightily  on  his  mind.  There 
was  no  written  evidence  that  he  enjoj'ed  a  comfortable  hope  of 
acceptance  with  God;  but  as  death  approached,  the  mate  said  to  him, 
"Captain  Cox,  you  area  very  sick  man."  "Yes,  I  know  it,"  he 
calmly  responded.  "You  are  dying,"  continued  the  mate.  "Yes, 
I  know  it,"  he  whispered  feebly.  "And  are  you  willing?"  "Yes, 
blessed" and  he  burst  into  tears,  and  immediately  expired. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Cox  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  work  of  the 
ministry.  In  December  he  attempted  his  first  public  discourse,  in 
a  school-house,  with  fear  and  trembling  at  first,  but  with  much 
inward  satisfaction  at  the  close.  The  life  he  now  entered  upon  was 
one  of  peculiar  hardship.  A  Methodist  preacher  at  that  time,  and 
in  that  section  of  country,  had  little  to  enjoy,  except  the  pleasure 
of  his  work,  and  there  were  many  things  to  endure.  Mr.  Cox  boic 
his  full  share  of  the  burden.     He  first  preached  as  a  licentiate  under 


MELVILLE    B.    COX.  805 

direction  of  the  presiding  elder,  successively  at  Wiscasset,  Bath  and 
Hampden,  teaching  schools  a  part  of  the  time  to  mend  his  scanty 
income.  The  unpopularity  of  the  sect  with  which  he  was  identified 
exposed  him  to  trials  harder  to  bear  than  any  in  the  train  of  poverty. 
On  receiving  from  the  bishop  his  first  appointment  as  an  itinerant, 
he  was  sent  to  the  Exeter  circuit,  then  sometimes  denominated  "the 
Methodist  college,"  a  fit  arena,  it  must  be  confessed,  for  training  a 
young  man  "  to  endure  hardness."  The  country  was  then  new,  the 
people  generally  poor,  religion  was  not  abundantly  honoured,  and 
Methodism  especially  was  in  low  repute.  At  the  sacrifice  of  per- 
sonal comfort,  he  was  indefatigable  in  his  appointed  service,  and 
before  he  left,  things  had  begun  to  assume  a  more  encouraging 
aspect.  On  being  transferred  to  Kennebunk,  he  left  many  warm 
friends  to  cherish  the  remembrance  of  his  faithful  ministry,  and  to 
smooth  the  way  of  future  probationers  in  that  scene  of  discipline. 

At  Kennebunk  he  seemed  impressed  with  an  uncommon  sense  of 
the  shortness  of  time  in  which  he  might  be  permitted  to  labour. 
With  no  distinct  presentiment  of  evil  days,  at  first,  he  yet  ^'•hasted 
to  do  his  work,"  and  the  Master  whom  he  served  wrought  effectually 
through  him  to  do  great  good  in  a  comparatively  short  time.  By 
degrees  he  became  persuaded  that  his  time  for  active  usefulness 
would  soon  end.  Nor  was  the  foreboding  false.  Early  in  1825, 
within  a  year  of  his  settlement  there,  he  was  prostrated  by  a  disease 
of  the  lungs  that  disabled  him  from  preaching.  His  recovery  was 
slow.  In  the  course  of  the  summer  he  became  able  to  travel,  but 
not  to  speak  without  difficulty.  His  old  employer  in  Hallowell 
offered  to  dispose  of  his  stock  and  "stand"  on  reasonable  terms, 
and  he  entered  into  the  book-trade,  but  the  business  was  not  profit- 
able in  his  hands,  and  he  was  obliged  to  relinquish  it.  With  scanty 
means  and  vague  hopes  he  set  his  face  towards  the  south,  to  find  a 
more  congenial  climate  and  an  opening  for  some  useful  employment. 
He  fixed  his  residence  at  Baltimore,  and  in  February,  1828,  married 
Miss  Ellen  Cromwell,  daughter  of  Mrs.  Lee,  the  widow  of  Tliomas 
Lee,  Esq.  The  family  was  wealthy,  their  estate  ample,  and  here 
he  lived  for  a  short  time,  busied  in  agricultural  pursuits,  and  in  the 
enjoyment  of  every  earthly  blessing.  At  the  solicitation  of  friends, 
he  removed  into  the  city,  and  took  charge  of  a  weekly  paper,  The 
Itinerant,  in  defence  of  the  principles  and  polity  of  his  church,  which 
were  at  that  time  rudely  assailed.  He  acquitted  himself  well,  and 
did  o-ood  service  to  the  cause.     But  the  journal  was  not  sufficiently 


366  MELVILLE    B.    COX. 

remunerating  to  be  continued  without  loss,  and  after  sinking  a  tnou- 
sand  dollars  in  the  enterprise,  he  relinquished  it.  Domestic  calami- 
ties followed.  His  wife  and  child,  and  three  brothers-in-law  were 
carried  to  the  grave  in  rapid  succession,  and  sickness  brought  him 
to  the  verge  of  life.  He  was  brought  very  low,  but  not  into  despair. 
"In  her  sickness,"  he  wrote  to  his  brother,  "I  was  too  sick  to  afford 
those  attentions  health  would  have  enabled  me  to  show.  I  could 
only  kneel  by  her  side,  and  weep  that  I  could  not  relieve  her;  and 
at  her  death,  I  could  not  realize  that  she  was  gone,  nor  feel  how 
great  was  my  loss.  But  now  there  is  no  dreaming, — all  is  real ;  no 
mingled  fear  and  hope, — all  is  stern  truth.  Ellen  is  no  more.  Well, 
be  it  so,  my  dear  brother.  Sometimes  my  path  seems  a  thorny  one ; 
but  God  is  infinitely  better, — ^yes,  Ifeel  that  he  is  infinitely  better  to 
me  than  I  deserve." 

His  health  was  sadly  broken.  The  fever  that  had  so  nearly 
ended  his  life,  left  him  in  great  weakness,  and  his  lungs  were  so 
irritable  that  even  conversation  was  painful.  His  worldly  prospects 
were  blasted.  He  thought  he  must  go  further  south,  but  knew  not 
what  to  do.  Secular  occupations  he  could  not  bring  himself  to 
undertake.  He  was  offered  an  agency  to  collect  funds  in  aid  of  the 
Wesleyan  University  at  Middletown,  Conn.,  and  actually  entered 
"upon  its  duties,  but  he  was  ill-inclined  and  ill-prepared  for  that 
species  of  work.  Another  newspaper  was  thought  of,  and  other 
plans  suggested,  but  none  met  his  feelings.  He  now  formed  a  reso- 
lution, which  was  daring  even  to  desperation :  "  to  go  and  offer  myself, 
all  broJcen  down  as  I  am,  to  the  Virginia  Conference.  If  they  will 
receive  me,"  he  adds,  "I  will  ask  for  an  effective  relation.  Then,  live 
or  die,  if  the  Lord  will,  I  shall  be  in  the  travelling  connection.  Out 
of  it  I  am  unhappy;  and  if  not  watchful,  I  may  w'ander  from  the 
simplicity  of  the  gospel." 

How  far  it  was  proper  for  him  thus  to  yield  to  internal  impulses, 
against  what  seemed  the  most  absolute  providential  warnings  to 
the  contrary,  it  is  not  needful  for  us  to  inquire.  The  answer  is 
at  hand;  the  event  was  decisively  against  it.  Mr.  Cox,  though  able 
to  satisfy  himself  at  the  outset,  was  at  no  time  free  from  doubts. 
"God  requires  not  murder  for  sacrifice,"  he  was  wont  to  say.  The 
Conference  accepted  him,  and  in  February,  1831,  he  was  stationed 
at  Raleigh,  North  Carolina.  The  first  flush  of  feeling,  at  finding 
himself  once  more  in  the  ministry,  was  exhilarating,  and  the  excite- 
ment probably  gave  an  unnatural  stimulus  to  his  physical  energies, 


MELVILLE    B.    COX.  367 

but  nature  is  not  to  be  outraged  with  impunity,  and  a  reaction 
speedily  commenced.  In  April,  he  was  forbidden  by  his  physician 
to  preach  longer.  Those  few  weeks  had  fearfully  wasted  his  already 
wrecked  constitution.  He  found  numerous  friends,  who  did  all  that 
human  kindness  could  do  for  one  in  such  circumstances,  and  he 
accepted  a  cordial  invitation  to  accompany  Rev,  Mr.  Freeman,  an 
Episcopal  clergyman,  to  the  White  Sulphur  Springs  in  Virginia. 
Much  of  the  time  he  was  obliged  to  keep  his  bed,  but  still  he  felt 
so  far  relieved  as  to  return  to  Raleigh — and  to  his  pulpit!  He 
could  die,  but  could  not  refrain  from  preaching.  As  he  was  unable 
to  do  any  thing  else,  he  thought  it  was  better  to  die  in  his  ministry 
than  in  idleness.  Such  a  conflict  between  the  spirit  and  the  flesh, 
between  an  unconquerable  will  and  a  thrice-vanquished  body,  is 
seldom  witnessed  on  earth. 

This  last  imprudence  extinguished  his  hopes  of  longer  usefulness 
there.  For  three  months  he  was  confined  to  his  room,  sufFerino" 
the  extremity  of  pain.  By  slow  degrees  he  rallied  strength  sufli- 
cient  to  travel,  and  now  his  fertile  brain,  still  restlessly  seeking  an 
opportunity  to  fill  up  his  days  with  profitable  labour  for  his  fellow- 
men,  entertained  thoughts  of  a  missionary  enterprise.  Perhaps, — • 
so  undying  hope  whispered, — perhaps  he  might  find  some  climate 
where  he  could  live  a  little  longer,  and  that  not  in  vain.  Some- 
thing in  the  state  of  South  America  at  that  time  prompted  the 
suggestion  of  a  misssion  there.  The  plan  was  suggested  to  the 
bishops,  who  approved  it,  and  he  wrote  some  articles  to  urge  it 
upon  the  church.  The  mission  was  established,  but  not  by  him. 
In  an  interview  with  Bishop  Hedding,  he  conversed  on  the  South 
American  scheme,  when  that  prelate  gave  a  new  direction  to  his 
thoughts,  by  proposing  a  mission  to  Liberia,  He  pursued  this  hint 
till  he  reached  the  conclusion  to  offer  himself  for  the  service. 

There  was  much  in  his  state  of  health  to  discourage  the  attempt, 
and  it  seemed  even  to  himself  a  dubious  undertaking.  But  he 
knew  that  his  life  could  not  be  long  in  America ;  though  the  cli- 
mate of  Africa  had  proved  so  fatal  to  others,  men  of  firm  health,  it 
was  possible  that  his  broken  constitution  might  bear  the  shock; 
and  then  he  might  be  useful  without  preaching,  in  some  important 
departments  of  the  mission.  In  a  letter  to  Bishop  Hedding,  he 
says:  "If  you  think  me  fitted  for  the  work,  /  will  go,  trusting  in 
the  God  of  missions  for  protection  and  success.  It  may  cure  me, — 
it  may  bury  me.     In  either  case,  I  think  I  can  say  from  my  heart, 


368  MELVILLE    B.    COX. 

'  The  will  of  the  Lord  be  done.'  I  shall  go  without  any  of  the  '  fear 
that  hath  torment,'  with  a  cheerful,  nay,  with  a  glad  heart."  Of  his 
physical  condition,  as  it  affected  the  question  of  his  personal  duty, 
he  remarked:  "1,  It  is  my  duty,  sick  or  well,  to  live  or  die  in  the 
service  of  the  church.  2,  There  is  a  loud  call  in  Providence,  at  this 
eventful  moment,  for  some  one  to  go  to  Liberia,  which  ought  and 
must  be  heard.  8,  There  are  some  indications  that  this  voice 
addresses  itself  to  me.  4,  A  man  in  high  health  would  run  a  greater 
hazard  of  life,  humanly  speaking,  than  I  should.  5,  Though  my 
health  does  not  warrant  much  in  expectation,  yet,  by  the  blessing 
of  God,  I  may  do  great  good.  The  race  is  not  to  the  swift,  nor  the 
battle  to  the  strong.  There  is  much,  very  much,  to  be  done  in  a 
mission  of  the  kind,  which  would  not  tax  my  voice  at  all." 

His  desire  was  granted.  He  was  appointed  to  superintend  the 
mission,  and  Eev.  Messrs.  Spaulding  and  Wright  and  Miss  Farring- 
ton  were  commissioned  as  his  assistants.  He  visited  the  north, 
stood  once  more  on  the  soil  of  his  native  state,  and  among  the 
scenes  of  his  earlier  and  more  hopeful  years.  The  vicissitudes  of 
joy  and  sorrow,  the  deep  waters  of  affliction  he  had  been  called  to 
pass  through,  had  not  dimmed  his  faith  or  overcome  his  holy 
serenity  of  spirit.  He  took  leave  of  his  widowed  mother  for  ever, 
and  bent  his  course  toward  Africa.  Passing  through  Middletown, 
Conn.,  he  said  to  a  young  man,  a  member  of  the  university,  "If  I 
die  in  Africa,  you  must  come  and  write  my  epitaph."  "I  will," 
his  friend  replied;  "but  what  shall  I  write?"  "Write,"  said  Mr. 
Cox,  "Let  a  thousand  fall  before  Africa  is  given  up." 
These  words  have  been  the  motto  of  more  than  one  aspiring  youth, 
whose  early  grave  marks  the  track  of  missionary  enterprise  in 
AVestern  Africa. 

At  New- York  and  Philadelphia  he  found  the  cholera  raging 
around  him.  He  went  on  to  Baltimore,  and  the  epidemic  was  there. 
A  short  sojourn  at  Mrs.  Lee's  hospitable  mansion  was  a  happy  sea- 
son of  rest,  and  the  air  of  the  country  revived  his  strength  and  his 
hopes.  Being  notified  that  a  vessel  was  to  sail  from  Norfolk  for  the 
Colonization  Society,  he  pursued  his  way  southward.  He  sailed  on 
the  6th  of  November,  1832,  with  a  company  of  emigrants  to  Libe- 
ria, having  for  his  companions  two  Presbyterian  missionaries.  His 
colleagues  went  by  another  conveyance,  and  he  expected  to  meet 
them  on  his  arrival  or  shortly  after.  On  his  passage  he  suffered 
much  from  sea-sickness,  but  his  mind  was  generally  cheerful.     They 


MELVILLE    B.    COX.  369 

made  the  African  coast  on  the  8th  of  January,  and  on  tlie  12th 
sailed  up  the  Gambia,  and  anchored  off  the  English  town  of  Bathurst, 
Avhere  they  remained  a  week.  Mr.  Cox  made  the  most  of  this  inter- 
val, consulting  the  governor's  chaplain  and  Rev.  Mr.  Moister, 
Wesleyan  missionary,  respecting  the  character  of  the  people,  their 
languages,  and  the  methods  of  missionary  work.  He  commenced 
the  study  of  the  Mandingo  language  immediately  on  resuming  his 
voyage,  though  the  motion  of  the  vessel  disturbed  him.  They  were 
driven  out  to  sea  by  fierce  gales  that  continued  a  number  of  days, 
but  his  heart  was  fixed  and  his  courage  unshaken.  "My  cry  to 
God,"  he  says,  "is  that  my  whole  soul  may  be  absorbed  in  the  work 
committed  to  my  charge,  and  that  I  may  do  justice  to  my  mission." 
"Be  the  consequences  what  they  may,  I  never  was  surer  of  any 
thing  of  the  kind,  than  I  am  that  the  providence  of  God  has  led  me 
here.  I  have  seen  his  hand  in  it,  or  I  do  not  know  it  when  seen. 
0,  I  trust  the  result  will  prove  to  the  world,  and  to  my  brethren, 
that  weak  as  I  am,  feeble  and  worn  out  as  I  am,  the  Lord  hath 
something  yet  for  me  to  do  in  his  church." 

Something  there  indeed  was  for  him  to  do;  much,  if  measured  by 
its  relations  to  what  followed;  but  it  was  to  be  effected  in  a  very 
short  time, — shorter  than  he  anticipated,  although  he  could  not  have 
acted  with  more  energy  and  wisdom  if  he  had  certainly  foreseen  the 
end.  On  the  7th  of  March  the  long  looked-for  land  appeared. 
"Thank  God!"  he  exclaims,  "/Aave  seen  Liberia,  and  live.''''  On  the 
8th  he  landed,  and  took  lodgings  with  Rev.  Mr.  Williams,  the  acting 
governor.  His  appointed  associates  had  not  arrived, — and  he  did 
not  live  to  welcome  them  to  their  field  of  labour.  He  committed 
to  paper  an  extended  sketch  of  his  observations  on  the  coast,  and 
transmitted  it  for  the  information  of  his  brethren  in  America.  He 
selected  sites  for  different  stations,  contracted  for  the  purchase  of 
mission  premises  at  Monrovia,  an  eligible  site,  obtained  at  a  decided 
bargain,  and  made  arrangements  for  a  school.  He  preached  on  the 
Sabbath,  and  commenced  a  Sunday-school  of  seventy  children. 
He  collected  as  many  of  the  pious  colonists  as  possible  into  a  regu- 
lar organization  as  the  first  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  of  Liberia, 
and  settled  the  terms  of  their  connection  with  the  Methodist  Con- 
ference of  the  United  States.  This  was  a  task  of  no  little  difficulty 
and  delicacy.  Many  of  the  colonists  had  a  strong  prejudice  against 
any  thing  that  looked  like  subjection  to  "white  people,"  a  feeling 
natural  enough  in  emancipated  slaves.  Some  of  their  number  had 
2-i 


370  MELVILLE     B.     COX. 

been  acting  as  preachers,  with  very  slender  qualifications,  and  somo 
of  them  on  questionable  authority.  It  was  not  easy  to  bring  them  to 
submit  their  ministerial  claims  to  the  cognizance  of  a  regular  ecclesi- 
astical authority,  with  a  pledge  to  abide  the  decision.  But  his  fervent 
and  persuasive  spirit  overcame  these  obstacles,  and  all  was  peaceably 
settled.  A  full  report  was  sent  by  him  to  America,  detailing  his  acts, 
his  plans,  and  the  degree  of  success  that  had  attended  him. 

In  these  employments  a  month  passed  away.  His  enfeebled  frame 
with  difficulty  sustained  the  severe  drafts  made  upon  it,  but  he  bore 
up  till  the  foundations  of  the  mission  were  solidly  laid.  Then  came 
on  the  "African  fever."  It  seized  him  on  the  12th  of  April,  and 
ne  kept  his  bed  for  twelve  daj'S.  On  the  27th  he  was  able  to  walk 
about  his  room  a  little.  But  he  took  cold,  and  was  again  reduced. 
His  situation  was  now  desolate  in  the  extreme.  The  periodical  rains 
had  set  in,  against  which  his  house  afforded  but  inadequate  protec- 
tion. The  physician  was  confined  by  illness,  no  nurse  could  be  pro- 
cured, few  of  the  emigrants,  though  their  jealousy  of  the  "whito 
man"  had  been  so  far  overcome  as  to  admit  of  the  peaceable  and 
orderly  establishment  of  the  mission,  felt  much  sympathy,  or  gave 
him  any  steady  attention.  He  was  mostly  alone,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  he  felt  lonely  at  times.  Without  medical  aid,  the  care 
of  a  nurse,  or  even  a  comfortable  habitation,  he  felt  himself,  under 
Providence,  at  the  mercy  of  his  disease;  and  while  permitted  to  con- 
gratulate himself  on  the  important  results  accoraplij^hed  by  his  brief 
mission,  looked  forward  with  near  expectation  to  his  heavenly  rest. 
While  his  body  suffered,  his  soul  was  filled  with  unaccustomed  joy. 
On  the  11th  of  May  he  says:  "For  eight  years  past  God  hath  chas- 
tened me  with  sickness  and  suffering;  but  this  morning  I  see  and 
feel  that  it  has  been  done  for  my  good.  Infinite  mercy  saw  that  it 
was  necessary,  and  perhaps  the  only  means  to  secure  my  salvation. 
Through  it  all  I  have  passed  many  a  storm,  many  temptations;  but 
this  morning  doubts  and  fears  have  been  brushed  away.  My  soul 
was  feasted  'while  it  was  yet  dark.'  When  no  eye  could  see  but 
His,  and  no  ear  hear  my  voice  but  His,  I  had  those  feelings  that 
make  pain  sweet,  and  suffering  as  though  I  suffered  not.  Yes,  I 
can  never  fjrget  this  blessed  Saturday  morning.  My  soul  has  tasted 
that  which  earth  knows  nothing  of, — that  which  the  ordinary  expe 
rience  of  the  Christian  does  not  realize.  I  hav.e  been  lifted  above 
the  clouds,  and  received  a  blessing  that  is  inexpressible.  The  Lord 
grant  that  I  may  hold  fast  whereunto  I  have  attained!" 


MELVILLE    B.    COX.  371 

Some  days  after  this,  he  began  to  feel  better;  his  neighbours 
showed  him  greater  attention,  havi"ng  been  won  by  their  observa- 
tion of  his  real  character,  and  he  received  from  them  many  delica- 
cies and  tokens  of  affection.  The  conversion  of  a  lad  whose  freedom 
he  had  purchased  in  Baltimore,  but  whose  irregular  conduct  had 
hitherto  made  him  very  troublesome,  was  a  peculiarly  gratifying 
event.  The  Christian  sympathy  of  Rev.  Mr.  Pinney,  to  whom, 
though  of  another  denomination,  the  church  was  indebted  for  preach- 
ing and  the  administration  of  the  sacraments,  occasionally  lightened 
his  dark  chamber.  Ever  intent  on  schemes  of  benevolence,  even 
when  there  were  so  many  things  to  fix  his  thoughts  on  himself 
alone,  one  of  his  last  recorded  resolutions  was,  if  God  should  spare 
his  life,  to  adopt  the  orphan  child  of  a  neighbour,  just  deceased,  in 
circumstances  of  destitution.  "I  pray  God,"  he  says,  "to  help  me 
to  train  him  up  in  His  fear." 

On  the  21st  of  May,  Mr.  Pinney  having  decided  to  return  to 
America,  called  to  take  his  leave.  Mr.  Cox  had  some  questionings 
in  his  mind  whether  he  ought  not  to  go  also.  His  work  was  too 
much  for  his  unaided  strength.  He  had  as  yet  borne  up  under  the 
fever,  and  a  voyage  home  might  give  him  new  vigour.  But  his 
colleagues  had  not  yet  arrived,  and  he  dared  not  think  of  leaving 
the  mission  uncared  for.  He  decided  to  remain  and  do  what  he 
could.  This  was  but  little.  He  made  some  preparations  for  the 
reception  of  his  expected  associates.  On  the  27th,  a  fresh  attack  of 
fever  prostrated  him,  and  his  constitution  was  too  far  exhausted  tc 
sustain  the  shock.  His  decline  was  gradual;  his  hold  of  life,  though 
feeble,  was  not  relaxed  till  the  21st  of  July,  when  faintly  breathing 
out  to  his  Saviour  the  invocation,  "Come!  come!"  he  ceased  from 
his  earthly  toil  and  suffering. 

The  life  of  such  a  man  as  Melville  B.  Cox,  is  a  sublime  example 
of  divine  strength  made  perfect  in  human  weakness.  In  his  best 
estate  he  was  neither  "great"  nor  "mighty,"  and  during  the  greater 
part  of  his  active  career,  the  time  when  he  did  most  for  the  good  of 
his  race,  he  was  struggling  hand-to-hand  with  death.  It  is  not 
claimed  that  he  set  a  perfect  example,  and  how  far  his  religious  zeal 
led  him  to  outstrip  the  bounds  of  a  righteous  prudence  may  be 
questioned.  But  it  is  observable  that  men  are  commonly  much 
more  intolerant  of  excesses  in  this  direction,  when  the  animating 
force  is  religious,  than  in  other  cases.     William  III.,  of  England, 


372  MELVILLE    B.    COX. 

is  never  censured  for  tasking  in  war  and  diplomacy  a  life  wljicli  id 
described  as  "one  long  disease."  When  death  was  near,  and  his 
wasted  form  could  scarcely  move,  his  eager  passage  from  Holland 
to  England,  to  convoke  a  parliament  and  finish  the  grand  alliance 
against  the  House  of  Bourbon,  under  the  influence  of  a  passion  that 
broke  from  his  lips  even  while  the  prayer  for  the  departing  was  read 
by  his  bedside,  is  never  mentioned  to  his  disparagement.  And  if  a 
man  of  God  sees  an  opening  in  providence  that  appears  to  call  for 
one  to  enter,  to  do  a  necessary  work  for  the  divine  glory  and  for 
human  welfare,  and  under  the  impulse  of  holy  and  benevolent 
affections  offers  a  broken  and  almost  worn-out  frame  to  bear  the 
cross  through  such  a  passage,  it  is  not  always  certain  that  he  mis- 
takes his  duty,  whatever  cool  and  worldly  minds  may  conclude. 

"Weak  as  Mr.  Cox  was,  with  little  of  literary  accomplishment  to 
boast,  and  unfurnished  with  titles  to  earthly  renown;  wrecked  as 
were  his  strength  and  present  hopes  by  the  assaults  of  incurable  dis- 
ease, his  purity  of  heart,  his  singleness  of  purpose,  and  his  unbroken 
communion  with  Him  who  reveals  himself  only  to  the  pure  in  spirit, 
gave  him  power.  That  power  was  effectually  exerted.  It  was  felt, 
and  the  fruits  of  his  labours  are  immortal.  If  those  who  profess 
the  same  faith  and  hope,  who  are  endued  with  the  strength  that  was 
denied  to  him,  were  all  partakers  of  that  measure  of  disinterested 
zeal  that  made  his  shattered  frame  and  afflicted  soul  the  instrument3 
of  so  much  good,  the  day  for  whose  coming  he  longed  and  laboured, 
would  be  hastened. 


PLINY    FISK. 


Pliny  Fisk  was  tlie  son  of  Ebenezer  and  Sarah  Fisk,  and  was 
born  at  Shelburne,  Mass.,  June  24tb,  1792.  His  parents  were  worthy, 
excellent  people,  but  were  in  moderate  worldly  circumstances,  sus- 
taining themselves  by  their  own  industry.  From  his  earliest  child- 
hood he  evinced  an  amiable  disposition,  and  a  somewhat  sober  turn 
of  mind,  though  he  was  by  no  means  destitute  of  vivacity  and  good- 
humour.  He  was  particularly  distinguished  for  his  untiriug  perse- 
verance; never  putting  his  hand  to  a  thing  of  which  he  did  not 
witness  the  completion,  if  it  were  at  all  within  the  compass  of  his 
abilit}'.  His  early  advantages  for  intellectual  culture  were  such 
only  as  were  furnished  by  a  common  district  school.  These  advan- 
tages, however,  he  improved  with  great  diligence,  and  his  progress, 
in  mathematics  particularly,  was  unusually  rapid,  as  his  taste  for 
that  department  of  science  formed  a  striking  feature  of  his  intellect- 
ual character. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  his  mind  first  received  a  decided  religious 
direction.  His  exercises  at  the  commencement  of  his  spiritual  course, 
as  detailed  by  himself,  evince  the  most  intense  consciousness  of 
guilt,  great  depth  of  penitential  feeling,  and  an  earnest  clinging  to 
the  cross  of  Christ  as  the  sinner's  only  refuge.  The  commencement 
of  his  course  gave  promise  of  an  unusually  active  and  devoted 
Christian  life;  but  it  gave  promise  of  nothing  more  than  its  progress 
and  termination  most  fully  realized.  He  became  a  communicant 
first  in  the  church  in  his  native  place  under  the  pastoral  care  of  the 
Kev.  Dr.  Theophilus  Packard. 

Having  now  come  under  the  influence  of  a  strong  religious 
feeling,  he  became  deeply  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  it  was 
his  duty  to  devote  himself  to  the  service  of  God  in  the  ministry  of 
reconciliation.  His  parents,  who  had  previously  been  little  dis- 
posed to  encourage  his  aspirations  for  a  liberal  education,  now  with- 
drew their  objections,  and  cheerfully  offered  him  whatever  aid  it 
inightbe  in  their  power  to  render.  He  accordingly  commenced  his 
course  of  study  preparatory  to  entering  college,  under  the  direction 
of  the  venerable  Moses  Hallock,  of  Plain  field,  ]\ra^s.     In  1811,  he 


874  PLINY    FISK. 

became  a  member  of  Middlebui-y  college,  and  was  admitted  to  an 
advanced  standing. 

In  college,  Mr,  Fisk  had  a  respectable,  but  not  an  eminent  stand- 
ing, as  a  scholar;  and  his  proficiency  in  the  mathematics  was  greater 
than  in  any  other  branch  of  study.  He  was  chiefly  di.stinguished 
for  the  spirituality  of  his  views  and  feelings,  and  his  earnest  devo- 
tion to  the  great  interests  of  Christ's  kingdom.  Indeed,  he  seemed 
like  a  man  of  one  idea — every  thing  else  he  regarded  as  insignifi- 
cant and  trivial,  compared  with  the  great  work  of  advancing  his 
Eedeemer's  glorj^,  and  saving  the  souls  of  his  fellow-men.  There  is 
little  doubt  that  this  ruling  passion  of  his  spiritual  nature  interfered 
somewhat  with  his  success  as  a  scholar;  and  he  seems  to  have  fallen 
into  the  mistake  of  supposing  that  that  intense  application  of  his 
faculties  that  was  necessary  to  superior  scholarship,  would  lessen 
the  vigour  of  his  religious  affections,  and  put  in  jeopardy  his  Chris- 
tian usefulness.  In  subsequent  life  he  seems  to  have  become  sensible 
of  his  mistake;  for  in  one  of  his  communications  addressed  to  the 
Society  of  Inquiry  respecting  missions  at  Andover,  after  he  reached 
his  missionary  field,  he  urges  upon  them  the  importance  of  making 
themselves  familiar  with  the  ancient  languages, 

Mr.  Fisk  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts  in 
August,  1814.  As  he  had  depended  mainly  upon  his  own  exer- 
tions for  the  means  of  his  education,  his  parents  being  in  a  situa- 
tion to  render  him  but  little  assistance,  he  had  accumulated  a  debt 
during  his  college  course,  which  it  was  his  first  object,  after  leaving 
college,  to  cancel ;  and  it  was  only  on  this  account  that  he  did  not 
at  once  connect  himself  with  some  Theological  Seminary.  In  Sep- 
tember succeeding  his  graduation,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
Theology  under  the  direction  of  his  pastor.  Dr.  Packard,  and  in 
January,  1815,  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  Franklin  Association 
of  Ministers.  The  record  which  he  has  left  of  his  feelings  and  reso- 
lutions in  connection  with  this  interesting  epoch  of  his  life,  shows 
that  while  he  was  oppressed  and  well-nigh  overwhelmed  with  a  sense 
of  his  responsibility,  he  sought  and  found  encouragement  and  sup- 
port in  the  promise  that  Christ's  grace  should  be  suf&cient  for  him. 

Within  a  few  weeks  after  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  he  was 
invited  to  supply  a  vacant  pulpit  in  Wilmington,  Vermont;  and  his 
labours  here  seem  to  have  been  attended  with  a  double  blessing — 
first  in  causing  a  somewhat  distracted  and  divided  church  to  become 
as  one  with  itself,  and  next  in  being  instrumental  of  an  extensive 


PLIXY    FISK.  375 

and  powerful  revival  of  religion.  Ilere  ho  found  liimself  in  his 
appropriate  element;  and  while  the  service  which  he  peiformed 
was  one  for  which  his  whole  previous  course  had  been  a  continuous 
training,  it  was  no  less  a  preparation  for  still  higher  degrees  of  use- 
fulness in  the  yet  more  important  field  which  he  was  subsequently 
to  occupy.  He  consented  to  a  second  engagement  with  the  people 
after  the  first  had  expired;  but  with  the  express  stipulation  that  he 
should  not  be  considered  as  in  any  sense  a  candidate  for  final  settle- 
ment with  them  in  the  ministry. 

Mr.  Fisk  had,  not  long  after  his  original  purpose  to  study  for  the 
ministry  was  formed,  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  a  mission  among 
the  heathen;  and  of  this  high  resolve  he  never  lost  sight  for  a 
moment  in  any  of  his  subsequent  arrangements.  With  a  special 
view  to  this,  he  determined  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages  of  a 
thorough  course  of  theological  education,  and  accordingly  in  Novem- 
ber, 1815,  he  became  a  member  of  the  Andover  Seminary.  Here 
his  mind  and  heart  were  open  to  all  the  benign  influences  Avhich 
surrounded  him,  while  both  mind  and  heart  were  put  in  requisition 
to  the  utmost  for  the  benefit  of  all  to  whom  his  influence  might 
extend.  In  his  intercourse  with  the  professors  he  evinced  all  due 
respect  and  deference,  while  yet  he  discovered  a  manly  independ- 
ence in  the  prosecution  of  his  theological  inquiries.  In  his  inter- 
course with  his  fellow-students,  he  was  cheerful  and  agreeable,  and 
sometimes  indulged  in  innocent  humour,  but  never  in  this  way  passed 
the  limit  of  the  strictest  Christian  decorum.  It  was  apparent  to 
all  who  saw  him  that  the  tendencies  of  his  spirit  were  upward;  that 
he  was  constantly  holding  communion  with  the  invisible  and  the 
spiritual;  that  in  every  plan  and  purpose,  as  well  as  every  import- 
ant act  of  his  life,  he  looked  beyond  the  world ;  in  a  word,  that  he 
counted  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of 
Christ  Jesus.  He  felt  the  importance  of  training  himself  to  a  regu- 
lar habit  of  bodily  exercise ;  and  with  a  view  to  this  he  often  solicited 
the  company  of  one  or  more  of  his  fellow-students  on  a  walk; 
but  he  was  always  careful  that  the  walk  should  accomplish  some- 
thing beyond  the  mere  exercise — he  would  see  that  some  edifying 
and  useful  conversation  was  kept  up,  and  not  unfrequently  he  would 
make  it  in  his  way  to  visit  some  afflicted  person,  and  administer  con- 
solation, or  some  vicious  person,  and  administer  reproof,  or  else 
possibly  he  might  make  it  the  occasion  of  projecting  some  new  plan 
of  benevolent  effort.     No  man  was  more  ready  than  ho  to  welcome 


376  PLINY    FISK. 

the  word  of  admonition,  if,  in  any  instance,  he  was  tempted  to  a 
momentary  aberration  from  the  path  of  Christian  circumspection. 
It  is  recorded  of  him  that  on  one  occasion,  while  he  was  sitting  in 
his  room  with  his  door  open,  he  was  heard  by  an  intimate  friend  to 

say,  "I  was  provoked  with  Brother because  he  continued  to 

speak  after  the  Professor  had  given  his  opinion."  Ilis  friend,  calling 
to  him  by  name,  he  replied,  "What  do  you  want?"  His  friend  said, 
"The  sun  will  go  down  by  and  by."  He  answered,  "Yery  well." 
In  about  fifteen  minutes,  he  came  to  the  room  of  the  brother  who  had 
thus  gently  admonished  him,  and,  taking  him  by  the  hand  with  great 
cordiality,  said. — "I  am  ready  now  to  have  the  sun  go  down." 

The  studies  included  in  his  theological  course  engaged  his  constant 
and.  earnest  attention,  and  he  made  exemplary  progress  in  each  of  the 
various  departments.  He  had  not  the  reputation  of  possessing  a  verj'' 
brilliant  mind,  or  a  mind  of  uncommon  energy,  nor  j^et  a  remarkably 
cultivated  taste ;  but  his  powers  of  analysis  and  accurate  investigation 
were  considered  as  much  above  mediocrity.  It  was  his  moral  power 
then,  as  in  after  life — particularly  the  power  of  an  earnest  and  all- 
pervading  piet}^ — that  constituted  his  most  distinctive  characteristic. 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Fisk  had  had  a  general  purpose  of  devoting 
himself  to  the  missionary  work  from  the  period  that  he  determined 
to  enter  the  ministry,  yet  his  purpose  does  not  seem  to  have  been 
so  fully  matured  but  that  he  was  still  seeking  direction  on  the  sub- 
ject, until  within  a  short  time  previous  to  his  leaving  the  seminary. 
He  was  for  a  while  somewhat  embarrassed  by  the  fact  that  his 
respected  professors  had  expressed  an  opinion,  if  not  decidedly 
adverse  to  his  going  abroad,  yet  much  in  favour  of  his  remaining 
at  home,  as  an  agent  of  charitable  societies,  and  as  a  domestic  mis- 
sionary; but  notwithstanding  his  high  respect  for  their  judgment, 
and  his  perfect  confidence  in  their  friendship,  he  felt  constrained, 
after  the  most  mature  examination  of  the  question  of  duty,  to  decide 
in  favour  of  a  foreign  mission.  Accordingly  he  addressed  a  com- 
munication to  the  American  Board  of  Missions,  offering  himself  to 
be  employed  under  their  direction,  in  any  part  of  the  Pagan  world 
they  might  choose  to  designate.  In  September,  1818,  the  class  of 
which  he  was  a  member,  finished  its  prescribed  course  of  study,  and 
on  the  day  that  the  public  examination  was  held,  the  Palestine  mis- 
sion was  established,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Prudential  Committee  of 
the  American  Board,  and  Mr.  Fisk,  together  with  his  intimate  friend 
and  classmate,  Mr.  Parsons,  was  appointed  to  that  important  station. 


PLINY    FISK.  877 

It  was  deemed  expedient  by  the  board  that  Mr.  Fisk,  before  pro- 
ceeding to  the  field  of  labour  assigned  him,  should  visit  the  South- 
ern part  of  the  United  States,  for  the  two-fold  purpose  of  diffusing 
missionary  intelligence  and  soliciting  pecuniary  contributions  in  aid 
of  the  missionary  cause.  He  accordingly  received  ordination  in  the 
Tabernacle  church,  Salem,  November  5th,  1818,  and  shortly  after 
sailed  from  Boston  for  Savannah.  On  his  arrival  at  the  latter  place, 
he  was  received  with  great  kindness  and  hospitality,  and  from  no 
one  did  he  meet  a  more  cordial  welcome  than  from  Dr.  Kollock, 
who  was  then  at  the  zenith  of  his  popularity  and  usefulness.  He 
quickly  found,  however,  that  there  was  likely  to  be  but  little  sym- 
}iathy  manifested  for  the  object  of  his  mission ; — partly  on  account 
of  a  great  pecuniary  pressure  incident  to  a  partial  stagnation  of 
business;  but  chiefly  from  a  deep-seated  prejudice  which  existed 
against  Northern  agents.  Mr.  Fisk,  however,  having,  after  a  while, 
become  considerably  known  and  personally  popular  among  the 
people  of  Savannah,  it  was  determined  by  the  managers  of  the  Mis- 
tsionary  Society  there  that  they  would  become  responsible  for  his 
support  as  a  missionary  to  Asia,  the  mission  being  under  the  more 
particular  direction  of  the  American  Board.  The  same  society  voted 
to  defray  the  expense  of  his  agency  in  that  part  of  the  country  for 
six  months.  From  Georgia  he  proceeded  to  Charleston,  S.  C,  where 
also  he  was  cordially  welcomed  by  many  Christian  people ;  and  he 
collected  in  aid  of  the  missionar}^  cause,  there  and  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, upwards  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  At  Savannah  and 
Charleston,  and  various  other  places,  he  established  societies  whose 
object  was  to  support  schools  for  the  education  of  heathen  children. 
Ailer  spending  a  few  weeks  in  South  Carolina,  he  set  his  face  towards 
the  North,  stopping  at  various  places,  and  especially  at  Washing- 
ton City,  where  he  had  an  interview  with  John  Quincy  Adams, 
then  Secretary  of  State,  who  kindly  offered  to  furnish  him  with  let- 
ters that  might  be  useful  to  him  on  his  intended  journe3^  He 
reached  his  native  state  in  the  month  of  July,  and  went  immediately 
to  Andover,  with  a  view  to  continue  his  studies  at  the  Seminary, 
till  the  time  of  his  embarkation  for  Asia. 

The  arrangements  for  his  departure  being  nearly  perfected,  he 
went  towards  the  close  of  October,  to  Shelburne,  to  make  a  farewell 
visit  to  his  widowed  fiither  and  other  relatives  and  friends  who 
resided  there.  On  a  day  previously  appointed,  he  delivered  an 
aiTectionate  and  solemn  valedictory  address,  on  which  occasion  ho 


6iQ  PLINY    FISK. 

took  leave  of  the  people,  willi  the  confident  expectation  of  meeting 
them  no  more  on  earth.  The  next  morning  he  parted  with  his  near- 
est relatives,  and  proceeded  to  Boston.  On  the  succeeding  Sabbath 
evening  he  preached  in  the  Old  South  Church,  from  Acts  xx.  22. 
"And  now,  behold  I  go  bound  in  the  Spirit  unto  Jerusalem,  not 
knowing  the  things  that  shall  befall  me  there."  It  was  an  exceed- 
ingly well-adapted  and  impressive  discourse,  and  was  listened  to  by 
a  large  audience  with  earnest  attention.  On  this  occasion  the 
instructions  of  the  Prudential  Committee,  prepared  by  the  Kev.  Dr. 
Samuel  Worcester,  were  read  to  him  and  his  colleague  in  the  mis- 
sion, Mr.  Parsons.  The  next  evening  (Monday)  he  met  a  large 
assembly  at  the  monthly  concert  of  prayer;  and  this  was  his  last 
public  meeting  with  Christians  on  American  shores.  On  "Wednes- 
day morning,  November  3d,  1819,  he  embarked  with  his  colleague 
on  board  the  ship  Sally  Ann,  Captain  Edes,  for  Smyrna. 

During  the  passage  Mr.  FLsk  wrote  numerous  letters  to  his  friends, 
all  of  which  breathe  the  same  high  devotion  to  the  great  cause  to 
which  he  had  consecrated  himself  After  a  favourable  voj'age,  the 
ship  in  which  he  sailed  entered  the  harbour  of  Malta  on  the  23d 
of  December;  but  on  account  of  the  strictness  of  the  quarantine 
regulations,  he  was  allowed  but  little  intercourse  with  persons  who 
were  on  shore.  He,  however,  made  the  acquaintance  of  several  indi- 
viduals, among  whom  was  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jowett,  author  of  the 
"Researches,"  who  manifested  great  interest  in  his  mission,  and 
communicated  to  him  much  valuable  information.  After  remainimj 
at  Malta  a  little  more  than  two  weeks,  the  ship  proceeded  on  her 
voyage,  and  on  the  15th  of  January  reached  Smyrna,  the  place  of 
her  ultimate  destination.  As  the  next  day  was  the  Sabbath,  Air. 
Fisk  and  his  colleague  did  not  leave  the  ship  until  Monday. 

The  reception  which  he  met  on  his  arrival  at  Smj'rna  Avas  pecu- 
liarly grateful  to  him,  after  the  solitude  and  monotonj-  of  a  long 
voyage.  His  introductory  letter  secured  for  him  every  attention 
he  could  desire,  and  several  of  the  individuals  with  whom  he  was 
thus  made  acquainted,  evinced  a  deep  interest  in  the  great  object 
which  had  carried  him  thither.  On  the  first  Monday  in  February 
he  and  Mr.  Parsons  united  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Williamson,  an  Epis 
copal  minister  resident  there  from  England,  in  observing  the 
monthly  concert  of  prayer — supposed  to  have  been  the  first  meeting 
of  the  kind  ever  held  in  Turkey. 

Having  spent  several  months  at  Smyrna,  chiefly  in  the  study  of 


PLINY    FISK.  379 

languages,  he  determined  to  spend  the  summer  at  the  island  of  Scio, 
that  he  might  have  the  advantage  of  the  instruction  of  Professor 
Bambas,  who  was  not  only  an  eminent  scholar  and  teacher,  but  of 
decided  evangelical  views,  and  withal  highly  favourable  to  the  mis- 
sionary cause.  On  his  arrival  there,  he  fbund  in  Professor  Bambas 
all  that  he  had  expected;  and  while  he  advanced  rapidly  under  his 
instruction,  he  devoted  a  part  of  his  time  to  the  distribution  of  tracts 
and  to  other  services  designed  to  diffuse  around  the  light  of  a  pure 
Christianitv.  He  remained  at  Scio  about  five  months,  and  during 
this  time  put  in  circulation  thirty-seven  thousand  tracts,  and  forty- 
one  copies  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  He  returned  to  Smyrna  in  the 
latter  part  of  October, 

In  November  of  this  year  (1820)  Mr,  Fisk,  in  company  with  Mr. 
Parsons,  made  a  tour  of  about  thi'ce  hundred  miles  for  the  purpose 
of  visiting  the  places  on  which  stood  the  "seven  churches  of  Asia," 
This  was  a  journey  of  great  interest,  not  only  from  the  hallowed 
associations  of  the  past,  but  from  the  fearful  desolations  of  the  pres- 
ent. The  diary  which  Mr.  Fisk  kept  during  this  period,  while  it  is 
full  of  interesting  incident,  shows  that  the  one  great  object  of  his 
mission  was  alwaj's  in  his  eye,  and  that  nothing  venerable  in  anti- 
quity or  curious  in  history,  could,  for  a  moment,  render  less  engross- 
ing the  sacred  work  of  blessing  and  saving  his  fellow-men. 

After  long-continued  and  mature  deliberation,  it  was  concluded 
by  Messrs  Fisk  and  Parsons  that  the  object  of  their  mission  v/ould 
be  most  effectually  promoted  by  their  temporary  separation  from 
each  other — Mr,  Parsons  proceeding  immediately  to  Sj'ria  on  a  tour 
of  observation,  with  a  view  to  ascertain  the  most  eligible  place  for  a 
permanent  missionary  establishment,  and  Mr.  Fisk  remaining  at 
Smj^rna,  to  prosecute  his  studies  and  carry  forward  his  work  in  the 
best  way  he  could.  In  accordance  with  this  arrangement,  the  two 
friends,  who  had  never  before  been  separated  for  a  night  since  they 
left  America,  parted  from  each  other  on  the  5th  of  December,  1820, 
Mr,  Parsons  taking  a  vessel  with  a  view  to  go  to  the  Holy  Land, 
Mr.  Fisk  now  little  anticipated  what  trials  awaited  himself  during 
the  period  of  their  separation.  Early  the  next  spring,  the  revolt  of 
the  Greeks  from  the  Turkish  dominion  at  various  points  roused  the 
jealousy  and  the  wrath  of  the  Turks  to  such  a  pitch,  that  they  seemed 
well  nigh  ripe  for  glutting  their  vengeance  by  a  universal  massacre: 
assassinations  became  so  frequent  in  Smyrna  that  a  single  day  would 
sometimes  number  several  hundreds.     Mr,  Fisk  witnessed  many  of 


380  PLINY    FISK. 

the  most  tragical  scenes,  but  was  himself  mercifully  preserved  amidst 
all  the  dangers  by  which  he  was  surrounded.  He  continued  his 
studies  so  far  as  was  practicable,  and  lost  no  opportunity  of  admin- 
istering instruction  or  consolation  to  the  terror-stricken  people 
around  him.  He  was  rendered  not  a  little  anxious  hy  the  intelli- 
gence that  his  friend  Mr.  Parsons  was  lying  dangerously  ill  on  the 
island  of  Syra;  and  he  almost  reproached  himself  that  he  had  not 
accompanied  him,  in  view  even  of  the  possibility  of  such  an  exigency. 
His  friend,  however,  was  mercifully  spared,  and  on  the  3d  of  De- 
cember, 1821,  after  being  separated  nearly  a  year,  they  had  a  joyful 
meeting  at  Smyrna.  In  the  course  of  the  same  month,  as  the  Eng- 
lish chaplain  returned  home,  Mr.  Fisk  was  invited,  as  he  had  been 
on  one  occasion  before,  to  take  his  place  in  the  chapel.  In  connec- 
tion with  this  service  he  continued  as  before  to  distribute  Bibles  and 
tracts  as  he  had  opportunity,  and  not  unfrequently  held  discussions 
with  Roman  Catholics  in  respect  to  some  of  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples of  Protestant  and  Evangelical  Christianity. 

Notwithstanding  Mr.  Parsons'  health  seemed  to  be  in  some  meas- 
ure restored,  yet  it  was  found,  on  his  return  to  Smyrna,  that  he  was 
too  feeble  to  perform  missionary  service,  and  it  was  thought  that  he 
might  be  materially  benefited  by  a  change  of  climate.  By  the 
advice  of  his  physician,  he  resolved  to  make  a  journej'  to  Egypt, 
and  Mr.  Fisk  being  unwilling  that  he  should  attempt  the  journey 
alone,  resolved  to  accompany  him.  Accordingly  they  embarked  in 
an  Austrian  brig  from  Smyrna,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1822 ;  and 
after  a  boisterous  passage  of  five  days,  they  reached  Alexandria. 
Within  less  than  a  month  after  their  arrival  there,  the  earthly  pil- 
grimage of  Mr.  Parsons  was  closed,  his  friend  watching  around  his 
bed,  and  ministering  to  his  wants  to  the  last,  with  all  the  affectionate 
assiduity  of  a  brother, 

Mr.  Fisk  remained  at  Alexandria  but  a  few  weeks  after  the  death 
of  Mr.  Parsons,  and  his  missionary  labours  during  this  period  were 
confined  chiefly  to  the  Jews.  In  March  succeeding  his  bereavement, 
he  proceeded  up  the  Nile  to  Cairo,  intending  to  make  a  journey 
through  the  desert  to  India,  or  Jo  Damietta  and  Jafta.  At  Cairo  he 
heard  of  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Temple  at  Malta,  and  for  reasons  which 
he  deemed  sufficient,  he  hastened  thither  with  a  view  to  meet  him. 
These  reasons  were  that  the  warm  season  which  was  then  approach- 
ing was  unfavourable  to  visiting  Judea;  that  on  account  of  the  dis- 
turbed state  of  political  affairs  in  Turkey,  probably  few  pilgrims 


PLINT   risK.  381 

would  venture  to  visit  Jerusalem ;  and  that  it  seemed  desirable  that 
tie  should  confer  with  the  missionary  friends  at  Malta  in  regard  to 
future  movements. 

Mr.  Fisk  reached  Malta  in  April,  where  he  was  obliged  to  perform 
a  quarantine  of  thirty  days.  Here  he  continued  labouring  in  various 
ways  till  the  beginning  of  the  next  year;  and  in  the  mean  time  he 
was  joined  by  the  Eev.  Jonas  King,  who  had  arrived  from  Paris, 
in  compliance  with  a  request  which  Mr.  Fisk  made  to  him  soon  after 
the  death  of  Mr.  Parsons.  They  sailed  together  for  Egj-pt  early  in 
January,  1823,  in  company  with  the  celebrated  Wolff,  who  had  some 
years  before  been  converted  from  Judaism.  They  carried  with  them 
a  large  quantity  of  Bibles  and  tracts.  After  a  week's  passage  they 
arrived  at  Alexandria,  where  they  spent  some  ten  days,  chiefly  in 
reasoning  with  the  Jews  out  of  their  own  Scriptures.  They  then 
proceeded  to  Rosetta,  thence  to  the  mouth  of  the  Nile,  after  which 
they  made  their  way  to  Cairo.  Here  they  spent  a  week,  distributing 
Bibles  and  tracts,  and  endeavouring  to  convince  the  Jews,  to  whom 
they  had  access,  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ. 

From  Cairo  they  proceeded  to  Upper  Egypt,  and  in  twenty-two 
days  arrived  at  Thebes,  where  they  were  not  a  little  interested  in 
visiting  the  temples  and  the  tombs  of  a  remote  antiquity.  They 
visited  various  interesting  points  in  Egypt,  and  remained  in  the 
country  about  three  months;  during  which  time  they  distributed 
nearly  four  thousand  tracts,  and  about  nine  hundred  copies  of  the 
Bible,  selling  a  part,  and  giving  away  a  part,  as  circumstances  seemed 
to  dictate. 

On  the  7th  of  April,  1823,  Mr.  Fisk  started,  in  company  with  Mr. 
King  and  Mr.  Wolff,  for  Jerusalem.  They  passed  through  the  great 
desert  which  was  the  scene  of  the  forty  years'  wanderings  of  the  chil- 
dren of  Israel,  and  after  a  dreary,  but  yet  most  interesting  journey, 
arrived  at  Jerusalem  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month.  Mr.  Fisk  in  his 
diary,  as  well  as  in  various  letters  written  to  his  friends  about  that  time, 
records  the  deep  and  sacred  emotions  which  were  awakened  within 
him  on  his  arrival  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  especially  in  the  Holy 
city.  His  descriptions  of  what  he  saw  are  alike  vivid  and  faithful; 
and  though  the  scenes  and  objects  have  since  been  rendered  com- 
paratively familiar  by  the  numerous  books  of  travels  which  have 
been  put  forth,  we  scarcely  know  any  thing  more  graphically 
descriptive  than  this  account  given  by  Mr.  Fisk  nearly  thirty  years 
a''"o.     In  the  first  few  weeks  he  confined  his  labours  and  researches 


382  PLINY    FISK. 

chiefly  to  Jerusalem  and  the  immediate  neighbourhood;  but  sabse- 
quently  he  made  excursions  to  more  distant  pLaces,  distributing 
every  where,  as  he  could  find  opportunity,  Bibles  and  tracts,  while  his 
spirit  was  constantly  revelling  amidst  the  most  hallowed  associations. 

As  it  was  Mr.  Fisk's  intention  to  extend  his  Christian  researches 
through  the  most  interesting  parts  of  Syria,  before  he  should  make 
a  permanent  settlement,  he  resolved  to  go  by  way  of  Tyre,  Sidon 
and  Beyroot,  to  Mount  Lebanon,  and  there  to  remain  during  the  hot 
season.  Accordingly  he  left  Jerusalem  in  company  with  Mr.  King 
on  the  27th  of  June,  1823,  and  reached  Mount  Lebanon  on  the  16th 
of  July.  He  took  up  his  residence  for  the  summer  at  a  place  called 
Antoura,  while  his  associate,  Mr.  King,  went  to  reside  at  Der  El 
Kamer,  a  place  about  equi-distant  from  Be^'root  and  Sidon.  On 
the  2d  of  September  he  observed  the  monthly  concert  of  prayer  in 
company  with  three  others,  which  he  represents  as  having  been  to 
him  a  most  joyous  and  refreshing  service. 

In  the  course  of  this  month,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jowett  having  arrived 
from  Eg3^pt,  Mr.  Fisk  went  to  Beyroot  to  welcome  him;  after  which 
they  went  together  on  some  excursions  among  the  mountains,  and 
subsequently  travelled  in  company  to  Jerusalem.  Here  Mr.  Fisk 
made  his  head-quarters,  occasionally  visiting  other  parts  of  the 
country,  for  about  eight  months.  He  then  returned  to  Beyroot,  and 
towards  the  close  of  June  set  out,  with  Mr.  King;  and  Mr.  Cook,  an 
English  Wesleyan  missionary,  on  a  journey  to  some  of  the  principal 
cities  in  the  North  of  Syria.  After  visiting  Damascus,  Aleppo, 
Tripoli  and  various  other  places,  he  went  back  to  Beyroot,  with  an 
intention  of  passing  the  winter  at  Jerusalem.  But  instead  of  pro- 
ceeding immediately  to  that  station,  he  and  Mr.  King  took  up  their 
residence  at  Jaffii,  where  they  arrived  on  the  29th  of  January,  1825. 
Here  they  continued  till  about  the  close  of  March ;  and  when  they 
reached  Jerusalem  on  the  first  of  April,  they  found  the  city  in  a 
state  of  great  consternation  from  the  desperate  outrages  which  were 
constantly  committed  by  the  Pasha's  soldiers.  Mr.  Fisk,  however, 
not  at  all  disheartened  by  this  alarming  state  of  things,  kept  quietly 
and  steadily  at  his  work,  having  full  confidence  in  the  protection  of 
his  Master,  as  well  as  in  the  ultimate  success  of  his  cause.  At  length, 
however,  he  became  satisfied  that  he  could  labour  to  better  purpose 
in  some  other  place,  and  resolved  to  return  to  Beyroot,  notwith- 
standing, owing  to  the  disturbed  state  of  the  country,  the  journey 
must  be  attended  with  some  hazard.     The  Sabbath  preceding  his 


PLINY    FISK,  383 

departure — the  last  that  he  ever  spent  in  the  Holy  city — he  preached 
in  Greek,  and  had  among  his  hearers  ten  priests  of  the  Greek 
order.  They  left  Jerusalem  on  the  9th  of  May,  and  after  encoun- 
tering some  slight  molestation  on  their  journey,  from  the  Arabs, 
they  reached  the  mission  family  at  Beyroot  on  the  18th  of  May. 
Here  Mr.  Fisk  continued,  prosecuting  bis  studies,  and  making, 
occasionally,  missionary  excursions  in  the  neighbourhood,  till  the 
close  of  his  earthly  career. 

The  season  after  Mr.  Fisk's  return  to  Beyroot  was  more  than  com- 
monly unhealthy,  a  malignant  fever  prevailing,  to  which  a  large 
number  fell  victims.  On  the  11th  of  October,  Mr.  Fisk  first  spoke 
of  being  ill,  though  for  several  days  there  was  nothing  to  excite 
apprehension  in  regard  to  the  issue  of  his  disease.  It  turned  out, 
however,  that  he  had  the  prevailing  fever,  and  the  case  at  length 
began  to  assume  an  alarming  aspect.  As  there  was  no  physician 
at  hand,  they  sent  for  one  at  Sidon,  in  whom  Mr.  Fisk  had 
expressed  some  confidence;  but  the  disease  was  probably  an  over- 
match for  any  medical  skill.  Each  successive  turn  of  fever  greatly 
diminished  his  strength,  while  it  produced  a  sort  of  convulsive 
effect  upon  his  whole  frame.  It  was  thought  proper  at  length  that 
he  should  be  apprized  of  the  fact  that  his  case  was  regarded  as 
hopeless,  and  he  received  the  intelligence  without  the  least  sign  of 
agitation.  He  dictated  various  letters  to  his  friends,  which  breathed 
the  most  entire  resignation  to  the  Divine  Will.  At  the  mention  of 
his  aged  father,  his  feelings,  for  a  moment,  seemed  almost  uncon- 
trollable; but  he  quickly  regained  his  accustomed  composure,  and 
remarked  that  God  would  enable  him  to  bear  it.  For  two  or  three 
days,  life  was  trembling  on  the  point  of  extinction,  while  his  spirit 
was  lifting  itself  for  its  final  glorious  flight.  At  three  o'clock  on 
Sabbath  morning,  October  23,  1825,  he  had  finished  his  education 
for  the  world  of  immortality.  His  death  produced  a  great  sensa- 
tion, not  only  in  the  missionary  family  from  which  he  was  taken, 
not  only  among  all  friends  of  Christian  missions  whom  the  intelli- 
gence reached,  but  among  the  poor  Arabs,  who,  in  all  their  ignor- 
ance and  degradation,  had  learned  to  look  upon  him  as  a  friend  and 
benefactor.  His  funeral  was  attended  the  next  day;  and  at  his 
grave,  a  part  of  Paul's  noble  discourse  on  the  Resurrection  was 
read  in  Italian,  and  a  prayer  offered  in  English.  His  remains  were 
deposited  in  a  garden  belonging  to  the  missionary  family.  He  died 
at  the  age  of  thirty-three. 


38J:  PLINY    FISK. 

In  this  brief  sketch,  it  has  been  impossible  to  do  more  than  just 
to  trace  this  lamented  missionary  through  different  parts  of  his 
field  of  labour,  without  attempting  to  show  what  he  actually 
accomplished.  As  he  had  to  do  the  work  of  a  pioneer,  it  were  not 
to  be  expected  that  his  labours  should  have  been  followed  by  any 
immediate  splendid  results;  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  he  had  a 
primary  agency  in  preparing  the  way  for  whatever  has  since  been 
accomplished  in  propagating  a  pure  Christianity  in  that  country  by 
other  instrumentalities.  During  the  six  years  of  his  missionary  life, 
he  had  acquired  four  foreign  languages,  so  as  to  be  able  to  preach 
the  gospel  readily  in  each  of  them.  He  had  formed  an  extensive 
acquaintance,  including  persons  of  various  nations,  and  of  every 
character,  ranging  from  the  extreme  of  refinement  to  the  extreme  of 
degradation;  and  this  acquaintance  he  always  endeavoured  to  ren- 
der subservient  to  the  great  work  to  which  he  had  devoted  himself 
It  is  easy  to  imagine  the  extensive  service  which  he  might  have 
rendered  to  the  cause,  had  he  been  spared  to  prosecute  his  labours 
till  the  present  time;  but  it  is  delightful  to  reflect  that  he  was  dis- 
missed from  his  labours  at  the  time  that  Infinite  Wisdom  saw  best, 
and  that  he  served  his  Master  long  enough  on  earth,  to  receive 
through  grace  a  glorious  crown  in  heaven. 

Mr.  risk,  as  we  have  already  intimated,  could  not  be  considered 
as  possessing  any  extraordinary  intellectual  powers;  but  he  pos- 
sessed highly  respectable  powers,  and  he  made  the  most  of  them. 
His  perceptions  were  clear,  his  judgment  sound,  and  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  human  heart  deep  and  accurate.  He  had  also  an  earn- 
est, loving,  trusting  spirit,  that  qualified  him  for  warm  friendships 
and  high  enterprises.  And  more  than  all,  he  had  a  spirit  of  devo- 
tion, a  love  for  the  souls  of  his  fellow-men,  a  confidence  in  the 
providence  and  grace  of  God,  an  utter  oblivion  of  self  in  his  blessed 
vocation,  that  at  once  rendered  the  missionary  work  delightful  to 
him,  and  gave  him  mighty  influence  as  a  missionary.  It  was  but 
for  a  few  brief  years  that  he  was  permitted  to  speak  for  his  Master 
here  upon  earth;  but  ever  since  he  was  laid  in  his  grave,  he  has 
been  speaking  through  the  word  of  what  he  was  and  what  he  did, 
to  all  who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity ;  and  so  he  will 
continue  to  speak,  till  that  grave  shall  give  up  its  dead,  and  he  shall 
ascend  from  the  land  which  the  prophets  and  apostles  once  occu- 
pied, to  that  better  country,  even  an  heavenly,  which  is  to  be  the 
final  home  of  all  the  ransomed  and  glorified. 


LEVI    PARSONS. 


Levi  Parsons,  the  second  son  of  the  Rev.  Justin  and  Mrs.  Electa 
Parsons,  "was  born  in  Goshen,  Mass.,  July  18th,  1792.  During  the 
period  of  his  childhood  he  was  exceedingly  fond  of  home,  and  by  his 
uncommonly  amiable  disposition,  became  a  great  favourite  in  the 
circle  of  his  relatives  and  acquaintance.  His  parents  were  greatly 
desirous  that  he  should  not  only  become  the  subject  of  a  genuine 
conversion,  but  that  he  should  devote  himself  to  the  Christian  minis- 
try ;  and  in  the  hope  that  this  might  actually  be  the  case,  they  sent 
him  abroad  to  school.  He  was  not  without  his  seasons  of  tempo- 
rary anxiety  in  respect  to  his  soul's  salvation,  during  his  childhood 
and  early  youth;  but  it  was  not  till  a  revival  of  religion  which 
occurred  in  the  year  1808,  that  he  gave  evidence  of  being  renewed 
in  the  temper  of  his  mind,  and  made  a  public  profession  of  religion 
by  uniting  with  the  church  under  his  father's  pastoral  care. 

In  1810  he  became  a  member  of  Middlebury  College,  his  father 
having,  in  the  mean  time,  removed  with  his  family  to  Whiting,  Vt., 
and  become  the  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  in  that  place. 
During  a  revival  which  occurred  in  Middlebury,  the  year  after  he 
entered  college,  his  mind  became  deeply  agitated  in  regard  to  the 
genuineness  of  his  own  previous  religious  experience;  and  for  a 
considerable  time  he  was  tossed  on  the  billows  of  painful  doubt, 
not  to  say  of  absolute  despair.  After  a  somewhat  protracted  season 
of  anxiety  and  suftering,  he  emerged  from  the  cloud  into  the  clear 
light  of  a  joyful  confidence  in  his  Redeemer;  and  from  this  baptism 
of  fire  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  seems  to  have  received  the  elements  of 
a  stronger  faith,  a  more  entire  consecration  to  the  service  of  his 
master.  Though  at  the  time  he  fully  believed  that  he  had  never 
known  the  power  of  regenerating  grace,  yet,  at  a  subsequent  period, 
when  he  could  examine  his  exercises  more  calmly,  and  compare  dif- 
ferent states  of  mind  with  each  other,  he  was  rather  inclined  to  the 
opinion  that  the  commencement  of  his  spiritual  life  dated  back  to 
the  period  at  which  he  had  originally  fixed  it. 
25 


386  LEVI    PARSONS. 

The  period  of  his  college  course  was  signalized  by  several  revivals 
of  religion  in  Middleburj,  in  which  the  college  had  a  liberal  share, 
and  in  which  he  was  himself  eminently  active  and  useful.  As  he 
was  somewhat  straitened  in  his  worldly  circumstances,  he  spent  some 
of  his  vacations  in  teaching  school;  and  here  also,  while  he  was 
most  assiduous  in  cultivating  the  intellects  of  his  pupils,  he  looked 
well  to  their  moral  and  spiritual  interests,  and  laboured,  according 
to  his  ability,  for  the  promotion  of  religion  in  the  several  neigh- 
bourhoods in  which  he  resided.  In  each  place,  he  left  behind  him 
a  most  grateful  savour,  and  some  individuals  there  is  reason  to 
believe,  who  were  permanently  benefited  by  his  faithful  counsels 
and  instructions. 

In  the  autumn  of  1813,  just  at  the  commencement  of  his  Senior 
year  in  college,  he  accepted  an  invitation  from  the  people  of  Lewis, 
Essex  county,  N.  Y.,  to  instruct  a  school  and  aid  an  infant  church 
in  the  devotions  of  the  Sabbath.  As  he  was  crossing  Lake  Cham- 
plain  in  the  evening,  on  his  way  to  Lewis,  he  had  a  narrow  escape 
from  death.  The  schooner  in  which  he  was  crossing  being  about 
half-way  over  the  lake,  the  ferryman  blew  a  trumpet  as  a  signal  for 
having  a  light  placed  on  the  opposite  shore.  They  soon  heard  a 
voice,  which  was  instantly  followed  by  a  musket-ball,  which  passed 
within  two  feet  of  Mr.  Parsons.  The  ferryman  then  halloed,  but 
got  no  response;  and  he  remarked  that  they  were  undoubtedly  pre- 
paring to  give  them  a  broadside.  But  instead  of  a  broadside,  there 
quickly  appeared  a  skiff,  with  a  number  of  armed  men,  approaching 
them  with  great  speed,  determined  apparently  to  do  a  destructive 
work.  After  making  a  few  inquiries,  however,  they  became  satis- 
fied that  all  was  right,  and  withdrew  without  attempting  any  injury. 
Such  is  the  fact,  as  recorded  by  Mr.  Parsons  in  a  letter  to  his 
parents — the  explanation  of  it  doubtless  is,  that  he  was  in  a  frontier 
part  of  the  country,  and  that  this  was  the  time  of  our  last  war  with 
Great  Britain. 

Mr.  Parsons  had  a  highly  respectable  standing  as  a  scholar,  and 
was  graduated  with  honour  in  1814.  He  pronounced,  at  the  com- 
mencement, a  eulogy  on  the  character  of  John  Knox ;  a  subject  into 
which  he  entered  with  great  enthusiasm,  and  which  not  only  brought 
into  vigorous  exercise  his  intellectual  powers,  but  quickened  and 
elevated  his  moral  and  religious  aspirations. 

Within  a  few  weeks  after  he  graduated,  he  joined  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Andover.     lie  had  fo'r  years  been  silently  agitating  the 


LEVI    PARSONS.  387 

question  whether  it  might  not  be  his  duty  to  give  himself  to  the 
work  of  foreign  missions;  but  it  was  not  till  some  time  in  the  year 
1816  that  he  came  to  a  definite  determination  on  the  subject.  He 
then  wrote  out  his  reflections  at  length,  weighing  carefully  every 
consideration  that  seemed  to  have  a  bearing  on  the  main  subject; 
and  the  result  was  a  full  conviction  that  he  was  called,  in  the  provi- 
dence of  God,  to  occupy  a  place  in  the  missionary  field.  His 
journal  during  his  connection  with  the  Seminary  shows  that  he  not 
only  lived  in  the  fear  of  God  all  the  day  long,  but  that  he  had 
attained  to  a  rare  measure  of  spirituality  and  heavenlj'-mindedness. 
He  was  particularly  careful  and  earnest  in  exploring  the  labyrinths 
of  his  own  heart,  and  had  the  deepest  sense  of  his  own  remaining 
corruption,  and  the  humblest  appreciation  of  his  own  Christian 
attainments.  His  vacations  now,  as  when  he  was  in  college,  were 
sacredly  devoted  to  doing  good ;  and  he  accounted  it  a  great  privi- 
lege when  he  was  permitted  to  labour,  as  he  was  in  two  or  three 
instances,  in  connection  with  a  revival  of  religion.  He  passed 
through  several  scenes  of  affliction  during  the  period  of  his  connec- 
tion with  the  Seminary,  and  was  especially  tried  by  the  death  of  a 
beloved  sister;  but  he  manifested  the  most  unqualified  submission 
to  the  Divine  will,  and  seemed  chiefly  concerned  that  those  who 
shared  with  him  the  bereavement,  might  be  improved  by  it,  as  well 
as  comforted  under  it. 

Mr.  Parsons  was  licensed  to  preach  at  Salem,  by  the  Salem  Asso- 
ciation, the  last  week  in  April,  1817.  He  read  on  the  occasion  a 
somewhat  extended  summary  of  Christian  doctrine,  as  containing 
the  substance  of  his  belief,  which  was  fully  in  accordance  with  the 
accredited  orthodoxy  of  New-England.  About  the  time  he  was 
licensed,  he  was  appointed  an  agent  of  the  American  Board  of  Com- 
missioners for  Foreign  Missions,  to  solicit  pecuniary  contributions  for 
the  society.  Having  accepted  this  appointment,  he  immediately 
repaired  to  Vermont,  and  entered  upon  his  agency.  Here  he  spent 
several  weeks,  making  earnest  and  effective  appeals  to  a  number  of 
the  churches,  communicating  much  valuable  missionary  intelligence, 
and  forming  societies  in  different  churches  for  the  education  of 
heathen  children.  When  he  had  accomplished  this  agency,  he 
returned  to  Andover,  and  in  September  following  took  his  leave 
of  the  Theological  Seminary,  having  gone  through  the  prescribed 
course  and  term  of  study. 

On  the  3d  of  September,  Mr.  Parsons  was  ordained  to  the  work 


388  LEVI    PARSONS. 

of  a  minister  and  a  missionary,  in  Park-street  church,  Boston,  at 
the  same  time  that  the  Rev.  Sereno  E.  Dwight  was  ordained  as 
pastor  of  that  church,  and  several  young  men  were  set  apart  as  mis- 
sionaries. The  sermon  on  the  occasion  was  preached  by  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Lyman  Beecher.  It  was  his  celebrated  sermon,  entitled — "  The 
Bible  a  code  of  laws." 

Mr.  Parsons  had  a  strong  desire  to  do  something  more,  before 
leaving  the  country,  for  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  people  of  Ver- 
mont— the  state  in  which  a  considerable  part  of  his  life  had  been 
spent,  and  with  which  were  associated  many  of  the  most  interesting 
scenes  through  which  he  had  passed.  He  therefore  accepted  an 
invitation  to  labour,  for  a  while,  in  the  service  of  the  Vermont  Mis- 
sionary Society.  He  visited  various  towns,  chiefly  in  the  northern 
part  of  Vermont,  preaching  for  a  longer  or  shorter  period  in  each 
place,  and  witnessing  in  some  instances  the  most  favourable  results 
from  his  labours.  At  the  close  of  September,  1818,  in  the  antici- 
pation of  being  soon  called  to  enter  upon  his  foreign  field,  he  signi- 
fied to  the  Trustees  of  the  Society  in  whose  service  he  had  been 
engaged,  that  he  could  continue  their  missionary  no  longer,  as  his 
time  would  all  be  needed  to  make  the  necessary  preparation  for 
leaving  the  country.  Subsequently  to  this,  however,  the  Pruden- 
tial Committee  of  the  American  Board  thought  proper  to  detain 
him  awhile  as  an  agent  for  the  Board  in  the  state  of  New-York; 
and  he  accordingly,  in  the  early  part  of  November,  left  Boston  to 
fulfil  this  new  and  somewhat  unexpected  appointment.  He  visited 
nearly  all  the  more  important  towns  in  northern  and  western  New- 
York,  and  though  he  met  with  some  opposition,  he  was  generally 
received  with  much  favour,  and  succeeded  in  many  instances  in 
giving  a  fresh  impulse  to  the  missionary  cause.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  circumstances  that  occurred  in  connection  with  his  mis- 
sion, was  his  meeting  with  the  Stockbridge  Indians,  then  under  the 
care  of  the  missionary,  John  Sergeant,  He  preached  to  them  when 
l;e  was  in  a  state  of  great  weariness  and  exhaustion,  but  still  spoke 
with  uncommon  fervour,  being  inspired  by  the  thought  that  pos- 
sibly his  audience  might  be  the  descendants  of  Abraham.  When 
the  sermon  was  over,  the  Indian  chief,  a  fine,  princely-looking 
fellow,  delivered  an  address  to  Mr.  Parsons,  in  the  best  style 
of  Indian  oratory.  He  thanked  God  that  He  had  sent  his  ser- 
vant among  them,  and  had  commissioned  him  to  deliver  to  them 
"a  great  and  important  talk."     He  thanked  the  preacher  also  for 


LEVI    PARSONS.  389 

his  excellent  counsels,  and  expressed  the  wish  that  thej  mio-ht 
answer  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  designed.  He  then  pro- 
ceeded to  read  a  "talk"  in  Indian  and  English,  which  he  desired 
Mr.  Parsons  to  deliver  to  "the  Jews,  their  forefathers,  in  Jerusalem." 
The  Indians  then  contributed  nearly  six  dollars  and  two  gold 
ornaments  in  aid  of  his  object;  after  which  he  was  invited  to  the 
mission-house,  where  he  received  from  them  several  presents,  and 
among  them  an  elegant  pocket  lantern,  containing  on  the  bottom 
of  it  the  following  inscription: 

"This  to  illumine  the  streets  of  Jerusalem. 
Jerusalem  is  my  chief  joy." 

In  the  latter  part  of  July,  Mr.  Parsons  returned  to  Andover, 
after  an  absence  of  about  eight  months,  and  spent  most  of  his  time 
in  that  neighbourhood  until  he  left  the  country.  On  the  loth  of 
October,  he  attended  the  organization  of  the  missionary  church  at 
Boston,  which  was  destined  to  carry  the  light  of  gospel  truth  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands.  The  next  day  he  set  out  to  make  his  farewell 
visit  to  his  relatives  in  "Vermont.  Here  he  had  a  most  affecting 
interview  with  his  beloved  parents — the  last,  as  it  proved,  on  earth ; 
but  he  was  enabled  to  sustain  himself  with  the  composure  and  dig- 
nity of  a  Christian  whose  eye  was  steadily  fixed  on  Heaven. 

Mr.  Parsons  sailed  from  Boston  for  Smyrna,  in  company  with  his 
friend  and  fellow-labourer,  Mr.  Fisk,  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of 
November,  1819.  The  ship  arrived  in  the  harbour  of  Malta  towards 
the  close  of  December ;  and  though  they  were  urged  by  Mr.  Jowett 
and  other  English  missionaries  there  to  remain  some  time,  particu- 
larly on  the  ground  that  there  were  better  facilities  for  learning  the 
Italian  and  Arabic  languages  than  they  would  find  at  Smyrna,  yet 
in  view  of  the  instructions  of  the  Prudential  Committee,  and  some 
other  considerations,  they  determined  to  proceed  in  accordance  with 
their  original  plan.  Accordingly  they  continued  their  voyage,  and 
reached  Smyrna  on  the  15th  of  January,  1820.  Here  they  were 
occupied  in  studying  the  languages  which  were  to  be  the  future 
medium  of  their  instructions,  and  in  performing  such  missionary 
service  as  the}''  could,  until  the  10th  of  May,  when  they  sailed  for  the 
island  of  Scio,  where  they  arrived  in  two  days.  Here  they  continued, 
pursuing  their  studies,  visiting  various  interesting  points,  and  in 
many  ways  performing  labours  of  love  among  the  inhabitants  until 
towards  the  close  of  November,  when  they  returned  to  Smyrna, 


390  LEVI    PAKSOJSS. 

It  had  long  been  one  of  Mr.  Parsons'  strongest  desires  to  visit  the 
Holy  Land ;  and  the  time  had  now  come  when  it  seemed  convenient 
and  suitable  that  that  desire  should  be  gratified.  In  order  to  the 
carrying  out  of  the  object  of  the  mission,  it  became  necessary  that 
either  Mr.  Parsons  or  Mr.  Fisk  should  proceed  to  Palestine,  and 
ascertain  what  arrangements  could  be  made  with  reference  to  a  per- 
manent missionary  establishment.  It  was  agreed  that  Mr.  Parsons 
should  undertake  this  delightful,  though  arduous,  and  in  view  of 
the  then  existing  state  of  the  country,  somewhat  perilous  service. 
Having  made  all  due  preparations  for  the  voyage,  he  embarked  on 
the  5th  of  December,  first  for  the  Isle  of  Cyprus,  where  he  arrived 
after  a  long  and  dreary  passage,  on  the  25th  of  January,  1821. 
Here  he  was  received  with  great  cordiality,  especially  by  a  Greek 
Bishop,  who  had  two  hundred  churches  under  his  direction,  though 
only  fifty  were  then  open  for  religious  services.  He  extended  to 
Mr.  Parsons  a  hearty  welcome,  not  only  as  a  gentleman,  but  as  a 
Christian  missionary,  and  expressed  his  warm  approbation  of  the 
tracts  which  he  had  brought  with  him  to  distribute.  After  stop- 
ping a  few  days  at  Cyprus,  and  being  greatly  interested  in  the 
various  sacred  localities  that  were  pointed  out  to  him,  he  went  on 
his  way  to  Jafia,  the  ship's  ultimate  destination.  Here  the  Russian 
consul  met  him  with  great  kindness,  and  promised  him  every  facility 
which  it  might  be  in  his  power  to  furnish.  It  was,  however,  not 
without  some  apprehension,  that  he  learned  from  two  English  trav- 
ellers with  whom  he  here  became  acquainted,  that  in  consequence 
of  the  arrival  of  a  new  governor  at  Jerusalem,  the  country  was 
rising  into  a  state  of  revolt;  that  it  was  imminently  hazardous  to 
travel  in  that  direction,  and  that  the  number  of  pilgrims  who  were 
to  accompany  him  would  afibrd  little  security.  This  intelligence 
seemed  somewhat  startling;  but  Mr.  Parsons,  satisfied  that  he  was 
in  the  path  of  duty,  felt  constrained  to  go  forward,  and  he  had  a 
strong  confidence  that  the  arm  of  the  Lord  would  be  revealed  for 
his  protection  and  deliverance.  Accordingly  he  made  the  journey 
in  great  security ;  and  though  he  was  often  called  upon  for  taxes, 
yet  in  consequence  of  a  letter  from  the  Russian  consul,  he  was 
suffered  to  pass  without  any  expense;  and  even  where  he  had  anti- 
cipated the  most  serious  annoyance,  he  was  heartily  cheered  on 
his  journey.  He  reached  Jerusalem  on  the  afternoon  of  the  12th 
of  February. 

Mr.  Parsons  remained  in  the  Holy  city  for  nearly  three  months, 


LEVI    PARSONS.  391 

during  which  time  he  enjoyed  excellent  health,  and  bad  every  facil- 
ity he  could  desire  for  prosecuting  his  inquiries  and  investigations. 
lie  examined  minutely  the  numerous  localities  and  monuments 
which  so  emphatically  form  the  attraction  of  Jerusalem  at  this  day, 
and  visited  also  various  other  places  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
which  are  especially  consecrated  by  Scripture  associations.  The 
bishop  and  priests  generally  received  him  with  many  expressions  of 
good-will,  and  when  they  parted  with  him,  intimated  a  wish  that  he 
might  return  to  them  in  due  time.  From  the  time  that  he  arrived 
at  Jerusalem  till  he  finally  left  it,  he  sold  ninety-nine  copies  of  the 
Psalter;  and  from  the  time  of  his  leaving  Smyrna,  he  sold  forty-one 
Greek  testaments,  two  Persian,  seven  Armenian,  one  Italian,  besides 
distributing  gratuitously  quite  a  number  in  different  languages.  The 
result  of  his  visit  at  Jerusalem  was  a  full  conviction  that  though  a 
mission  there  would  have  to  encounter  serious  obstacles,  yet  that, 
on  the  whole,  there  was  an  opening  to  which  the  attention  of  the 
American  Board  might  very  profitably  be  directed. 

On  the  8th  of  May  he  left  Jerusalem  for  Jaffa,  and  on  his  arrival 
at  the  latter  place  found  a  vessel  bound  to  Scio,  in  which  he  at  once 
took  passage.  This  he  did  the  rather  as  he  learned  that  the  Greeks 
and  the  Turks  were  wrought  into  a  deadly  hostility  towards  each 
other,  and  that  it  would  be  unsafe  for  him  to  remain  any  longer  in 
that  region.  On  the  20th  of  May,  the  captain  having  previously 
ascertained  at  Castello  Kosso  that  the  Turks  designed  to  seize  their 
vessel,  they  noticed  a  vessel  before  them,  with  a  flag  perfectly  black, 
with  the  exception  of  a  white  cross  in  the  middle,  and  a  red  crescent 
beneath  it.  The  captain  of  the  strange  vessel  immediately  came  on 
board  their  vessel,  ordered  their  flag  to  be  taken  down,  and  then  con- 
temptuously trampled  upon  it,  pronouncing  a  curse  on  him  who  should 
attempt  to  raise  it.  "We  do  not  take  your  vessel,"  said  they,  "nor 
do  we  wish  to  molest  Greek  pilgrims,  but  we  seek  the  blood  of  Turks. 
They  have  executed  our  patriarch  and  our  bishops,  and  we  are 
determined  to  stand  in  defence  of  our  lives  and  of  our  religion.  All 
the  Greeks  in  the  Morea  and  on  the  islands  are  in  arms.  If  you  are 
arrested  by  a  Turkish  vessel,  you  must  expect  immediate  execution." 
Having  made  this  astounding  communication,  they  immediately 
went  in  search  of  another  vessel  of  pilgrims  which  accompanied 
the  vessel  in  which  Mr.  Parsons  was,  from  Jaffa;  and  there  finding 
two  Turks  and  about  thirty  Jews,  they  arrested  them  all,  reserving 
the  Jews  for  trial,  but  dooming  the  Turks  to  immediate  death. 


892  LEVI    PARSONS. 

On  the  first  of  June  there  was  another  alarming  demonstration. 
A  ship  of  war  approached  their  vessel,  and  Mr.  Parsons,  together 
with  the  captain  of  the  vessel  and  a  Greek  priest,  were  summoned 
to  appear  on  board.  Mr.  Parsons  having  forgot  his  passport,  the 
captam  of  the  ship  of  war  ordered  it  to  be  brought,  and  upon 
examining  it,  pronounced  it  sufficient ;  though  he  assured  him  that 
he  could  enter  neither  the  port  of  Scio  nor  of  Smyrna;  that  the 
school  of  Scio  was  closed,  and  that  the  learned  and  excellent  Pro- 
fessor Bambas,  who  had  been  Mr.  Parsons'  instructor,  had  fled  for 
his  life. 

On  his  arrival  at  Samos,  Mr.  Parsons  was  invited  to  take  a  room 
in  the  house  of  the  English  consul;  and  he  gladly  availed  himself 
of  the  proffered  kindness.  Here  he  was  engaged  as  usual  in  reading 
the  Scriptures  to  those  who  were  willing  to  hear,  and  in  endeavour- 
ing to  give  them  a  practical  understanding  of  the  truths  to  which 
they  listened.  He  had  travelled  with  considerable  companies  of  pil- 
grims both  to  and  from  Jerusalem ;  and  notwithstanding  there  were 
man}'  unpleasant  things  attending  this  association,  yet  he  was,  on 
the  whole,  more  than  willing  to  suffer  the  inconvenience,  for  the 
sake  of  the  opportunity  afforded  him  of  instructing  these  deluded 
beings  in  the  wa}'  of  life. 

Mr.  Parsons'  health  having  become  considerably  impaired,  he  was 
strongly  advised  to  take  a  short  voyage  without  delay,  as  a  means 
of  restoring  it.  In  accordance  with  this  advice,  he  left  Samos  on 
the  29th  of  June  in  a  Genoese  vessel,  for  Tino;  but  in  consequence 
of  a  violent  wind,  the  captain  found  it  impossible  to  enter  that  port, 
and  laid  his  course  for  Syra,  an  island  distant  from  Tino  about 
twenty  miles.  Here  they  landed  the  day  after  their  departure  from 
Samos.  Syra  was  under  the  special  protection  of  the  French  flag, 
and  afforded  a  safe  retreat  from  the  alarm  and  agitation  incident  to 
the  war. 

Until  the  latter  part  of  August,  Mr.  Parsons,  though  not  in  .vigor- 
ous health,  was  able  to  labour  pretty  constantly,  and  there  was 
nothing  that  led  him  to  apprehend  the  approach  of  serious  disease. 
At  this  time,  however,  he  became  suddenly  and  alarmingly  ill,  and 
for  twenty  days,  was  entirely  bereft  of  reason,  and  for  fifty  was  con- 
fined to  his  chamber.  He  was,  however,  after  his  reason  was  restored 
to  him,  favoured  with  great  tranquillity  of  mind,  and  perfect  confi- 
dence in  his  Heavenly  Father's  wisdom  and  goodness  in  respect  to 
the  issue  of  his  malady,  rejoicing  in  the  full  conviction  that  it  would 


LEVI    PARSONS.  393 

be  overruled  for  the  best  interests  of  the  cause  on  wliicb  his  highest 
regards  were  concentrated.  Having  so  far  recovered  his  health  that 
it  Avas  safe  for  hira  to  travel,  he  sailed  from  Syra  for  Smyrna ;  spe- 
cial provision  being  made  in  the  vessel  for  his  accommodation  as  an 
invalid.  He  arrived  at  Smyrna  on  the  8d  of  December,  where  he 
had  the  pleasure  of  again  meeting  with  his  beloved  colleague,  Mr. 
Fisk,  fi'ora  whom  he  had  been  separated  for  a  year.  Their  meeting 
was  a  most  joyous  one,  and  each  had  much  to  relate  to  the  other  con- 
cerning the  merciful  interpositions  of  providence  experienced  during 
the  period  of  their  separation. 

It  was  now  but  too  apparent  that  disease  had  made  an  alarming, 
if  not  a  permanent  and  fatal  lodgement  in  Mr.  Parsons'  constitution ; 
and  the  physician  whom  he  consulted  at  Smyrna  concurred  with  Mr. 
Fisk  and  other  friends  in  the  opinion  that  nothing  would  be  more 
favourable  to  his  recovery  than  a  voyage  to  Egypt.  Arrangements 
were  accordingly  made  at  an  early  period  for  his  departure  for 
Alexandria;  and  Mr.  Fisk  determined  to  accompany  him.  They 
sailed  from  Smyrna  on  the  9th  of  January,  and  reached  Alexandria 
after  the  remarkable  quick  passage  of  five  days.  His  strength, 
which  was  greatly  reduced  before  he  commenced  his  voyage,  was 
still  more  reduced  when  he  had  finished  it;  and  his  letter  to  his 
friends,  as  well  as  the  records  in  his  journal,  show  that  he  was  quietly 
and  patiently  waiting  to  see  what  Infinite  Wisdom  designed  for  him. 
After  this,  his  symptoms  at  times  seemed  more  favourable,  but  his 
disease,  which  seems  to  have  been  a  species  of  consumption,  was 
making  constant  and  irresistible  progress.  His  heart  was  full  of 
peace  and  holy  joy  at  the  reflection  that  his  times  were  in  God's 
hand,  and  even  the  wanderings  of  his  mind  to  which  he  gave  utter- 
ance when  he  was  asleep,  showed  that  God  was  in  his  sleeping  not 
less  than  in  his  waking  thoughts.  A  few  days  before  his  death, 
he  wrote  to  his  brother  and  sister  a  letter,  informing  them  minutely 
in  respect  to  his  condition,  and  though  not  speaking  of  his  case  as 
absolutely  desperate,  yet  leaving  them  little  reason  to  hope  that  they 
would  ever  hear  of  him  again  as  among  the  living.  And  thus  the 
event  proved:  it  devolved  upon  his  excellent  colleague  to  convey, 
by  the  very  next  opportunity,  the  sad  intelligence,  that  the  places 
that  had  known  him  on  earth  would  know  him  no  more.  He  died 
on  the  morning  of  the  11th  of  February,  1822,  being  within  about 
five  months  of  thirty  years  of  age.  His  funeral  was  attended  at 
four  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  by  several  English 


894:  LEVI    PARSONS. 

gentlemen,  the  captains  of  the  ships,  a  large  number  of  the  Maltese, 
and  several  merchants  from  different  parts  of  Europe.  As  the  Mal- 
tese understood  Italian  and  not  English,  Mr.  Fisk  read  to  them  in 
Italian,  as  thej  came  in  a  little  before  the  funeral,  a  portion  of 
Scripture  suited  to  the  occasion ;  after  which  they  moved  in  proces- 
sion to  the  grave,  which  was  about  a  mile  distant.  The  body  was 
interred  at  the  church-yard  in  the  Greek  convent  where  the  English, 
resident  at  Alexandria,  usually  bury  their  dead. 

The  character  of  Mr.  Parsons  had  nothing  in  it  of  eccentricity — 
nothing  to  attract  the  popular  gaze  or  to  awaken  popular  admiration ; 
but  his  various  faculties  were  so  easily  balanced  that  it  was  difficult 
to  say  which,  or  whether  either,  had  the  precedence.  He  husbanded 
his  time  with  almost  miserly  thrift,  and  was  never  more  impatient 
of  any  thing  than  of  those  individuals  or  circumstances  that  would 
rob  him  of  it.  He  was  never  satisfied  unless  he  was  acquiring  use- 
ful knowledge,  cultivating  his  religious  affections,  or  performing 
some  service  that  might  turn  to  the  benefit  of  his  fellow-men.  He 
was  distinguished  for  the  virtue  of  prudence;  not  that  worldly 
wisdom  that  is  but  another  name  for  cunning,  but  that  Christian 
discretion  that  looks  calmly  at  cause  and  consequences,  while  it  is  in 
constant  communion  with  the  Author  of  all  good  counsels.  He  pos- 
sessed naturally  an  uncommon  degree  of  loveliness — his  gentle  and 
amiable  spirit  had  irresistible  attractions;  and  it  may  truly  be  said 
that  to  know  him  was  to  love  him.  His  piety  was  intelligent,  deep, 
all-pervading.  No  one  who  marked  his  humble  and  self-denied 
course  from  day  to  day,  could  doubt,  for  a  moment,  that  the  control- 
ling purpose  of  his  life  was  to  serve  God  and  do  good  to  his  fellow- 
creatures.  As  a  preacher,  he  was  simple  and  evangelical,  instructive 
and  earnest;  aiming  to  promote  the  highest  interests  of  those  whom 
he  addressed.  He  never  fainted  or  grew  weary,  or  lost  his  confidence 
in  God,  amidst  the  most  discouraging  circumstances;  when  dangers 
the  most  appalling  threatened,  still  his  heart  was  fixed,  trusting  in 
the  Lord ;  and  in  the  near  prospect  of  death,  he  was  not  afraid ;  for 
the  glories  of  Heaven  were  beginning  to  blaze  upon  his  eye.  He 
had  a  brief  course,  but  a  glorious  history ;  and  when  the  whole  of  it 
comes  to  be  revealed  at  the  judgment-day,  how  it  will  shame  the 
life  even  of  many  a  man  who  calls  himself  a  soldier  of  the  cross ! 


ASAHEL    GRANT,    M.  D. 


AsAHEL  Grant,  the  son  of  "William  and  Eachel  Grant,  was  born 
in  the  town  of  Paris,  (now  Marshall,)  Oneida  county,  K  Y.,  August 
19th,  1809.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Litchfield  county,  Conn., 
and  were  both  not  only  exemplary  professors  of  religion,  but  emi- 
nently devoted  Christians.  He  was  the  second  son  in  a  family  of 
eight  children.  In  his  early  childhood  he  was  distinguished  for  great 
sweetness  of  temper,  for  a  ready  submission  to  parental  authority, 
for  a  love  of  books,  and  for  certain  tastes  which  were  thought  to  indi- 
cate the  probability  of  his  ultimate  choice  of  the  medical  profession. 

At  the  age  of  about  twelve,  he  accidentally  inflicted  a  severe 
injury  upon  one  of  his  feet,  which  occasioned  so  great  a  loss  of 
blood,  as  to  threaten  a  fatal  termination.  It  was  this  circumstance, 
disabling  him  in  some  measure  for  labouring  on  a  farm,  that  led  his 
father  to  consent  to  his  entering  the  medical  profession ;  and  but  for 
this  apparently  untoward  event,  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
we  should  have  been  called  to  enrol  his  name  on  the  list  of  devoted 
and  honoured  missionaries. 

He  spent  nearly  a  year  at  an  academy,  and  about  the  same  length 
of  time  at  college,  devoting  himself  especially  to  the  study  of  chem- 
istry. When  he  was  only  sixteen,  he  taught  a  district  school,  in 
which  he  acquitted  himself  with  great  credit.  After  this  he  resumed 
his  academical  studies,  and  having  continued  them  for  a  while,  began 
the  study  of  medicine  in  the  office  of  Dr.  Hastings,  of  Clinton, 
Oneida  county,  attending  the  usual  lectures  at  the  Fairfield  and 
Pitsfield  medical  schools.  Having  nearly  completed  his  course  of 
medical  study,  he  went  to  reside  with  Dr.  Douglass,  an  eminent 
surgeon  of  Utica,  and  continued  with  him  about  a  year. 

Notwithstanding  his  early  years  were  stained  by  no  immorality, 
and  he  rendered  himself  a  favourite  among  his  friends  by  his  many 
amiable  and  engaging  qualities,  it  was  not  till  he  was  nineteen  years 
of  age  that  his  mind  was  seriously  and  permanently  directed  to  his 
immortal  interests.  At  that  time  he  became  deeply  impressed  with 
a  sense  of  his  sinfulness,  and  after  a  season  of  great  mental  distress. 


396  ASAHEL    GRANT. 

was  brought  to  a  cordial  acceptance  of  the  gospel  offer,  and  found 
the  peace  that  passeth  understanding.  From  that  period  he  mani- 
fested great  interest  in  the  enlargement  of  Christ's  kingdom,  and 
began  to  discover  a  missionary  spirit,  before  he  had  formed  any 
purpose  of  devoting  himself  to  the  missionary  work. 

At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Electa  Loomis,  of 
Torrington,  Conn.,  a  lady  of  great  personal  attraction,  of  excellent 
education  and  devoted  piety.  But  though  the  morning  of  their 
domestic  life  seemed  bright,  their  union  was  destined  to  be  of  short 
continuance.  About  four  years  from  the  time  of  their  marriage,  she  > 
died  of  typhus  fever,  leaving  two  sons,  the  youngest  but  five 
months  old.  He  was  himself  seriously  ill  during  the  last  illness  of 
his  wife,  and  when  she  died,  it  was  thought  not  improbable  that  he 
would  quickly  follow  her. 

About  a  year  after  his  marriage,  he  received  his  medical  diploma, 
and  settled  as  a  practitioner  in  Braintrem,  Wyoming  county,  Penn. 
After  the  death  of  his  wife,  so  great  was  his  solitude  and  sadness, 
that  he  settled  his  accounts,  disposed  of  his  property,  and  returned 
with  his  two  motherless  children  to  the  home  of  his  early  days. 
But  notwithstanding  he  felt  his  bereavement  most  keenly,  he  sub- 
mitted to  it  with  a  calm  and  trusting  spirit,  and  it  evidently  marked 
an  epoch  in  his  spiritual  progress. 

In  1829  he  commenced  medical  practice  at  Utica.  Here  he  was 
chosen  an  elder  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  and  discharged 
the  duties  of  the  office  with  great  fidelity  and  acceptance.  During 
one  summer  of  his  residence  here,  the  cholera  prevailed  extensively, 
and  in  its  most  malignant  form;  and  the  doctor,  while  labouring 
.  night  and  day,  especially  among  the  poor,  who  found  it  difficult  to 
command  medical  aid,  had  well-nigh  fallen  a  victim  to  it  himself 

In  1834,  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions, held  their  annual  meeting  in  Utica.  It  had  been  for  some 
time  a  matter  of  great  interest  with  them  to  find  a  suitable  person 
to  engage  as  physician  in  the  Nestorian  mission ;  and  it  began  to  be 
impressed  on  Dr.  Grant's  mind  that  possibly  this  was  a  providential 
opening  for  him.  After  deliberating  much  on  the  subject,  and  using 
every  means  within  his  reach  to  ascertain  his  duty,  he  finally  resolved 
to  devote  himself  to  the  work;  and  accordingly  offered  himself  in 
the  capacity  of  a  physician  to  the  Board.  They  cheerfully  accepted 
his  proposal,  and  he  was  occupied  during  the  ensuing  winter  chiefly 
ill  making  the  necessary  preparations  for  leaving  home. 


ASAHEL    GRANT.  397 

In  April,  1835,  lie  was  married  to  Miss  Judith  S.  Campbell,  daugh- 
ter of  Dr.  William  Campbell,  of  Cherry  Valley,  N.  Y.  She  had  long 
had  a  decided  predilection  for  the  missionary  work,  and  the  event 
proved  that  she  possessed  qualifications  for  it  of  the  highest  order. 

Shortly  after  their  marriage,  they  took  leave  of  their  friends,  and 
proceeded  to  Boston  for  the  purpose  of  embarking  for  foreign  shores. 
They  sailed  in  the  brig  Angola,  bound  for  Smyrna,  on  the  11th  of 
May,  bearing  letters  of  introduction  to  the  missionaries  there  from 
Mr.  Yan  Lennep,  then  a  student  in  Amherst  college,  and  since  a 
missionary  in  the  East,  and  son-in-law  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Hawes  of 
Hartford.  They  arrived  at  Smyrna  on  the  28th  of  June,  after  a 
passage  of  forty-eight  days  from  Boston.  After  remaining  there 
four  days,  they  embarked  in  an  Austrian  steamer  for  Constanti- 
nople, where  they  arrived  on  the  4th  of  July,  and  were  cordially 
welcomed  by  Commodore  Porter,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Goodell  and  several 
other  missionaries.  They  remained  here, — part  of  the  time  in  Com- 
modore Porter's  family, — about  six  weeks,  and  were  greatly  gratified, 
as  well  by  the  hospitality  which  they  experienced  as  by  the  many 
interesting  objects  and  novel  usages  by  which  they  were  surrounded. 

From  Constantinople  they  went  by  a  schooner  to  Trebizond ;  and 
thence  in  a  caravan  they  proceeded  overland  to  Kurdistan.  The 
journey  was  made  not  without  considerable  peril;  but  it  was  one  of 
great  interest,  and  carried  them  near  the  base  of  Mount  Ararat. 
On  their  arrival  at  Ooroomiah,  Mr.  Perkins,  the  missionary,  did  his 
utmost  to  make  their  situation  pleasant,  and  especially  to  bring  them 
acquainted  with  persons  whom  it  was  desirable  that  they  should 
know.  Almost  immediately  the}'-  had  an  opportunity  of  attending 
a  wedding  in  company  with  the  venerable  Bishop  Mar  Yohanna, 
who  has  since  travelled  in  this  country;  and  while  they  were  greatly 
entertained  by  the  novel  and  protracted  ceremony,  they  were  most 
agreeably  impressed  by  the  expressions  from  the  people  of  good- 
will towards  them,  and  of  interest  in  the  objects  of  their  mission. 

Dr.  Grant  immediately  commenced  his  labours  as  a  physician, 
though  with  his  care  for  the  body  he  united  also  a  still  greater  care 
for  the  soul.  He  had  many  cases  of  ophthalmia,  and  had  great  suc- 
cess in  treating  them ;  so  that  it  was  not  uncommon  for  persons  who 
came  to  him  blind  to  return  seeing. 

In  the  beginning  of  June,  1836,  Mrs,  Grant  became  the  mother 
of  a  son,  whom  they  called  Henry  Martin.  In  the  autumn  of  the 
same  year,  he  was  visited  with  two  or  three  attacks  of  fever,  and, 


898  ASAHEL    GRANT. 

shortly  after,  was  brought  to  the  verge  of  the  grave  bj  cholera.  lie 
had  all  the  extreme  symptoms,  insomuch  that  his  death  was  hourly 
expected;  but  a  gracious  Providence  interposed  for  his  restoration. 
Mr.  Perkins,  his  missionary  associate,  was  severely  ill  about  the  same 
time,  and  continued  in  a  feeble  state,  after  Dr.  Grant  had  so  far 
recovered  as  to  be  able  to  resume,  in  some  degree,  his  labours.  In 
consequence  of  this,  the  whole  care  of  the  mission,  for  some  time, 
devolved  upon  him. 

It  was  a  severe  trial  to  Dr.  Grant,  in  engaging  in  the  mission,  to 
be  obliged  to  submit  to  a  separation  from  his  two  little  boys,  the 
children  of  his  first  marriage;  but  he  could  not  doubt  that  the  prov- 
idence of  God  called  him  to  the  sacrifice.  They  were,  however, 
continually  upon  his  mind  and  his  heart,  and  the  letters  which  ho 
wrote  to  them,  and  to  his  other  friends  in  respect  to  them,  showed 
that  the  effect  of  a  separation  from  them  was  any  thing  else  than  to 
blunt  his  parental  sensibilities. 

In  August,  1838,  he  had  to  communicate  to  his  friends  the  news 
of  the  birth  of  two  daughters.  At  the  same  time,  he  informed  them 
that  his  own  health  was  precarious,  and  indeed  it  had  never  been  fully 
restored  from  the  time  that  he  suffered  so  severely  from  the  cholera 
His  little  boy  also  was  suffering  much  from  the  climate,  and  his 
wife  had  for  some  time  been  in  an  exceedingly  dubious  state.  But 
in  the  midst  of  all  these  untoward  circumstances,  his  heart  was  fixed, 
trusting  in  the  Lord.  He  did  not  then,  nor  did  he  ever,  regret  for 
a  moment,  his  having  given  himself  to  the  missionary  cause;  for  he 
had  always  the  fullest  conviction  that  he  had  followed  the  leadings 
of  Providence,  and  the  most  unwavering  confidence  that  his  labours 
and  sacrifices  would  not  be  in  vain  in  the  Lord. 

On  the  3d  of  January,  1839,  Mrs.  Grant  was  attacked  by  one  of 
the  fevers  of  the  country,  which,  after  eleven  days,  had  a  fatal  issue. 
She  was  greatly  sustained  by  the  hopes  of  the  gospel,  in  the  prospect 
of  her  departure,  and  left  the  world  in  full  confidence  of  entering 
upon  the  heavenly  rest.  Not  only  was  her  death  most  deeply 
lamented  by  the  members  of  the  mission  family,  but  the  Nestorians 
and  Mohammedans  manifested  intense  grief,  and  acknowledged  that 
they  had  lost  one  of  their  best  friends.  Her  calm  and  triumphant 
death  was  a  matter  of  surprise,  especially  to  the  deluded  followers 
of  the  false  prophet,  who  are  accustomed  to  forbear  looking  at  death 
as  long  as  they  can,  and  when  they  see  it  approaching,  to  contem- 
plate it  only  with  the  deepest  consternation. 


ASAHEL    GRANT.  399 

In  the  course  of  tliis  year  Dr.  Grant  made  a  somewhat  extensive 
tour  of  exploration,  in  many  respects  of  great  interest,  and  yet 
attended  with  considerable  peril.  In  the  city  of  Mardin  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, he  and  his  fellow-traveller  Mr.  Homes  had  well  nigh  lost  their 
lives.  A  company  of  blood-thirsty  Koords  killed  several  of  the 
chief  men  of  the  city,  and  made  inquisition  for  them  also,  intending 
that  they  should  share  a  similar  fate;  but  a  kind  Providence  so 
ordered  it  that  they  had  left  the  city  a  short  time  before  the  com- 
motions took  place.  Finding,  on  their  return,  that  the  gates  were 
closed,  and  that  there  had  been  a  scene  of  bloodshed  in  their  absence, 
they  immediately  retired  to  a  convent,  distant  about  four  miles,  where 
they  were  kindly  welcomed  and  entertained  by  the  Syrian  patriarch, 
with  whom  they  had  previously  formed  an  acquaintance.  Mean- 
while, a  large  party  of  Koords  were  in  pursuit  of  them ;  and  having 
ascertained  that  they  had  gone  to  the  Syrian  convent,  set  out  in  that 
direction,  with  a  determination  either  to  take  their  lives  or  to  destroy 
the  convent.  As  they  were  on  their  way  to  do  this  desperate  work, 
it  happened  to  occur  to  some  of  them  to  inquire,  what  injury  the 
men  whom  they  were  pursuing  had  done  to  them ;  whereupon  they 
soon  became  divided  among  themselves,  and  one  after  another  left 
the  party,  until  the  murderous  purpose  was  finally  abandoned. 
Hoping  that  they  might  have  returned  to  the  city  in  the  evening, 
some  of  them  went  to  their  lodgings  that  night;  and  subsequently 
they  made  a  search  for  their  property ;  but  to  no  purpose.  After 
remaining  a  week  with  the  patriarch.  Dr.  Grant  ventured  into  the 
city,  dressed  in  the  native  costume,  with  a  view  to  make  preparation 
for  proceeding  on  his  journey  to  Mosul,  while  Mr.  Homes  returned 
to  Constantinople. 

After  this  adventure,  Dr.  Grant's  journey,  though  laborious,  was 
marked  by  many  circumstances  of  great  interest.  The  party  with 
which  he  travelled  was  made  up  of  Turks,  Arabs,  Koords,  Nestorians, 
&c. ;  and  as  he  encamped  in  the  tents  of  the  Arabs,  he  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  witnessing  many  fine  specimens  of  pastoral  life.  Having 
remained  at  Mosul  seventeen  days,  in  which  time  he  made  a  most 
interesting  visit  to  the  ruins  of  Nineveh,  he  set  out  on  the  7th  of 
October,  on  a  tour  in  Central  Koordistan,  or  ancient  Assyria,  with 
a  view  to  visit  the  Nestorian  Christians,  who  dwelt  in  the  almost 
inaccessible  mountains  of  the  barbarous  Koords.  This  journey, 
which  no  European  had  ever  made,  he  accomplished  much  to  his 
.satisfaction,    and   after  spending  six  or   seven  weeks   among   the 


400  ASAHEL    GRANT. 

Nestorian  mountaineers,  and  gaining  mucli  information  which  he 
regarded  as  highly  important  to  the  missionary  cause,  he  returned  to 
Ooroomiah  in  the  early  part  of  December,  He  was  generally  treated 
with  great  kindness  throughout  the  whole  tour,  and  even  the  Koord- 
ish  chiefs  welcomed  him  as  a  benefactor,  and  expressed  a  wish  that 
he  might  come  and  take  up  his  residence  among  them.  Though  he 
endured  considerable  hardships,  and  was  obliged  to  walk  several 
days  in  succession  on  account  of  the  badness  of  the  roads,  yet  his 
health  was,  on  the  whole,  benefited  by  the  tour. 

In  January,  1840,  Dr.  Grant  was  called  to  another  severe  affliction, 
in  the  death  of  both  his  infant  daughters.  One  of  them  died  of 
influenza  on  the  13th,  the  other  of  measles  on  the  27th.  They  were 
buried  in  one  grave  beside  the  remains  of  their  mother.  The  letters 
in  which  he  conveyed  the  sad  intelligence  to  his  friends  at  home, 
show  at  once  a  deeply  stricken  and  a  perfectly  submissive  spirit. 

For  some  time  Dr.  Grant  had  been  seriously  thinking  of  a  visit 
to  America,  partly  from  a  wish  to  see  his  children  who  remained 
here,  and  partly  that  he  might  confer  with  the  Prudential  Commit- 
tee in  respect  to  his  intended  labours  among  the  mountain  tribes. 
The  Board  having  given  him  permission  to  return,  he  left  the  field 
of  his  labours  in  the  spring  of  1840,  and  taking  along  with  him  his 
little  boy,  retraced  his  overland  journey  from  Ooroomiah  to  the  port 
of  Trebizond.  Here  he  embarked,  stopped  for  a  short  time  at 
Smyrna,  and  reached  Boston  after  a  perilous  voyage  of  seventy  days. 

As  soon  after  his  arrival  as  possible,  he  made  his  way  to  central 
New- York,  carrying  with  him  the  son  who  had  been  born  on  mission- 
ary ground,  to  meet  the  two  sons  whom  he  had  left  behind.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  it  was  an  occasion  which  woke  into  the  liveliest 
exercise  the  sensibilities  of  the  father's  heart.  He  made  provision 
from  his  own  funds  for  the  education  of  his  children,  hoping  that  they 
might  ere  long  become  Christian  missionaries,  and  join  him  in  his 
labours  on  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan.  He  had  several  conferences 
with  the  Prudential  Committee  of  the  American  Board,  which  prom- 
ised to  result  most  favourably  for  the  mission  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
and  especially  for  his  favourite  enterprise  in  the  mountains.  He 
travelled  extensively  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  addressed 
many  congregations  in  behalf  of  his  object  with  great  earnestness, 
and  no  inconsiderable  effect.  He  was  also  very  considerably  occupied 
in  bringing  out  a  work,  entitled,  "The  Nestorians,  or  the  Lost  Tribes; 
containing  Evidences  of  their  Identity,"  &c. ;  a  work  of  which  critics 


,  ASAHEL    GRANT.  401 

have  entertained  different  opinions,  in  regard  to  the  soundness  of 
its  main  position,  but  which  all  must  acknowledge  is  the  result  of 
extended  and  laborious  research.  An  edition  of  it  was  published 
in  England,  where  it  attracted  great  attention. 

Dr.  Grant,  having  remained  in  the  country  about  six  months, 
embarked  for  England  on  his  return  to  his  missionary  field.  He 
sailed  in  the  steamer  that  immediately  succeeded  the  ill-fated  "Pres- 
ident;" and  had  it  not  been  for  some  disappointment  which  he  expe- 
rienced in  his  preparation  for  leaving  the  country,  he  would  have 
been  on  board  that  vessel,  and  would  ever  after  have  been  only  a 
subject  for  sad  conjecture. 

After  remaining  a  short  time  in  England,  he  proceeded  on  his 
journey  to  Constantinople,  thence  to  Erzroom  and  Van,  two  Turkish 
cities,  and  on  the  25th  of  August,  he  reached  Mosul.  The  journey 
was  attended  with  no  small  danger  from  the  bands  of  robbers  by 
which  the  country  was  infested,  and  in  one  instance  preparation  was 
making  for  an  assault  upon  the  party,  but  the  robbers  were  fright- 
ened by  a  false  show  of  strength.  He  arrived  at  Mosul  just  in  season 
to  administer  relief  to  his  new  missionary  associate,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Hinsdale,  whom  he  found  suffering  from  a  severe  illness,  which 
would  probably  have  proved  fatal,  but  for  the  seasonable  adminis- 
tration of  medical  aid. 

In  August,  1842,  the  Nestorians  in  the  mountains,  in  whom  Dr. 
Grant  took  so  lively  an  interest,  were  invaded  by  an  army  of  Koords 
and  Turks  on  the  north,  who  partially  subdued  several  of  the  smaller 
tribes,  and  burned  the  house  of  the  patriarch.  They  were  subse- 
quently besieged  by  a  Turko-Koordish  army  on  the  south  and  west, 
which  was  sent  against  them  by  the  pasha  of  Mosul ;  but  this  army 
was  met  with  a  vigorous  resistance  and  suffered  considerable  loss  in 
the  repulse.  Dr.  Grant,  however,  predicted  (and  the  event  justified 
the  prediction)  that  the  matter  would  not  end  there;  and  that  the 
sufferings  to  which  the  Nestorians  had  already  been  subjected  were 
only  a  drop  of  the  full  cup  that  was  to  be  wrung  out  to  them. 

In  September  we  find  Dr.  Grant  once  more  a  mountain  pilgrim, 
and,  so  far  as  regards  missionary  associates,  a  solitary  one.  After 
traversing  the  mountains  in  almost  every  direction,  he  selected  a  site 
for  a  station,  purchased  a  lot,  and  laid  the  corner-stone  of  a  mission- 
house.  He  opened  schools  also  on  a  small  scale,  engaged  the  best 
native  teachers  he  could,  and  set  himself  to  dispense  with  all  fidelity 
tlie  truths  of  the  glorious  gospel.  lie  recorded  it  at  this  time,  as  au 
20 


402  ASAHEL    GKANT. 

occasion  for  great  gratitude,  that  in  the  midst  of  so  much  privation 
and  exposure,  his  health  was  remarkably  good.  Such  was  the  favour 
which  he  had  gained  with  the  chief  of  the  Koords,  the  patriarch,  and 
the  people  generally,  that  he  could  engage  in  an  enterprise  of  this 
kind  with  far  more  safety  than  any  other  person  could  have  done. 
All  that  he  was  enabled  to  accomplish,  however,  he  regarded  as 
merely  preparatory  of  what  he  hoped  was  to  follow. 

But  the  hostile  demonstrations  which  had  been  made  against  the 
Nestorians  in  the  mountains  were  soon  found  to  be  only  the  begin- 
ning of  evil.  The  tempest  that  had  been  gathering  for  many  months, 
at  length  swept  over  them  with  the  besom  of  destruction.  Not  only 
their  ancient  and  venerable  churches,  but  even  their  quiet  dwellings, 
were  laid  low  by  the  ruthless  hand  of  the  invader ;  hundreds  were 
cruelly  slaughtered,  and  hundreds  more  were  driven  into  captivity. 
Dr.  Grant  did  every  thing  in  his  power  for  the  relief  of  those  who 
survived,  and  even  periled  his  life  in  their  behalf:  it  was  impossible, 
however,  that  he  should  continue  his  missionary  labours  in  the 
mountains;  but  the  miserable  inhabitants  came  down  into  the  plains, 
where  he  had  still  an  opportunity  of  labouring  for  both  their  tem- 
poral and  spiritual  well  being.  Here  he  gathered  the  children  and 
youth  into  a  school,  administered  medicine  to  the  sick  and  food  to 
the  starving,  and  endeavoured,  above  all,  to  convince  them  of  their 
spiritual  malady,  and  bring  them  to  apply  to  tlie  Great  Physician. 

In  the  early  part  of  1844,  Dr.  Grant,  by  advice  of  Dr.  Anderson, 
and  in  accordance  with  his  own  wishes,  resolved  on  another  visit  to 
this  country:  while  he  was  desirous  of  looking  after  the  interests  of 
his  children,  he  was  impressed  with  the  idea  that,  by  taking  more 
time  than  he  had  allowed  himself  on  his  previous  visit,  to  travel  over 
the  country  and  communicate  information,  he  might  render  more 
important  service  to  the  cause  than  he  could  in  any  other  way. 
Accordingly,  he  wrote  to  his  mother  towards  the  close  of  March, 
informing  her  that  his  arrangements  were  made  to  revisit  his  friends 
in  America,  and  that  at  no  distant  period,  he  hoped  to  see  her  face 
again.  But  the  expectation  which  he  awakened  and  that  which  he 
cherished  were  alike  vain.  In  less  than  a  fortnight  from  the  date  of 
that  letter  he  was  prostrated  by  a  violent  disease,  and  in  just  one 
month  he  had  finished  his  earthly  course. 

The  disease  of  which  he  died  was  a  typhus  fever.  He  was  taken 
unwell  on  the  5th  of  April,  but  it  was  not  till  after  two  days  that 
his  illness  assumed  a  serious  aspect.     For  several  days  after  that,  he 


ASAHEL    GRANT.  40S 

"was  able  to  converse  freely,  and  to  counsel  in  respect  to  his  own 
case,  though  it  was  evident  that  every  day  the  disease  was  gaining 
ground.  On  the  last  day  that  he  was  able  to  attend  to  any  business. 
or  to  converse  about  general  matters,  he  received  letters  from  home, 
containing  many  interesting  details  in  respect  to  his  children.  From 
this  time  he  declined  more  rapidly  until  Sunday  morning,  the  14th, 
when  he  called  a  friend  to  his  bedside,  and  requested  that  they  might 
join  in  a  prayer  for  the  mission,  which  had  been  thus  put  back  by 
the  calamities  which  had  overtaken  the  Nestorians.  This  was  prob 
ably  his  last  season  of  intelligent  devotion ;  and  during  the  ten  days 
which  intervened  between  that  time  and  his  death,  his  mind  was 
constantly  in  a  wandering  state.  His  funeral  took  place  the  day 
after  he  died,  the  service  being  conducted  by  Mr.  Laurie,  a  brother 
missionary.  Several  bishops  and  priests,  and  the  Nestorian  patriarch, 
were  present,  and  took  part  in  the  service.  His  remains  were  depos- 
ited in  the  same  tomb  with  those  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Hinsdale  and  Mrs. 
Laurie,  who  had  died  some  time  before.  There  was  great  lamentation 
throughout  the  neighbourhood  occasioned  by  his  death,  and  the  Nes- 
torian  patriarch,  in  speaking  of  it,  said,  "I  have  lost  my  people  in  the 
mountains,  and  now  my  dearest  friend  is  gone — what  shall  I  do?" 

In  this  brief  sketch,  we  have  purposely  omitted  all  reference  to 
the  causes  of  the  wars  between  the  Koordish  chiefs  and  the  patriarch, 
which  had  such  a  disastrous  termination.  Dr.  Grant  alludes  to  this 
subject  with  great  feeling  in  some  of  his  letters;  and  the  general 
facts  are  doubtless  within  the  recollection  of  most  of  the  friends  of 
the  missionary  cause. 

Dr.  Grant  may  be  said  to  have  been  an  uncommonly  fine  speci- 
men of  a  man,  a  Christian,  and  a  missionary.  In  his  person,  he  was 
of  about  the  usual  size  and  stature.  His  features  were  regular,  his 
forehead  high  and  shaded  with  dark  locks,  and  his  whole  appear- 
ance at  once  attractive  and  commanding.  He  had  a  voice  of  great 
depth,  and  compass,  and  melody,  and  his  utterance  was  uncom- 
monly distinct  and  deliberate.  His  manners  were  dignified  and 
polished,  and  his  general  bearing  in  society  every  way  agreeable. 

Ilis  intellectual  powers  also  were  of  decidedly  a  superior  order. 
He  had  a  memory  at  once  quick  and  retentive;  but  while  he  care- 
fully treasured  up  the  valuable  thoughts  of  others,  they  were  not 
suffered  to  remain  in  his  mind  as  a  mass  of  indigested  materials, 
but  were  used  as  a  help  to  independent  reflection.  From  his  early 
childhood,  he  evinced  an  uncommonly  inquisitive  mind,  and  was 


•iO-i  ASAHEL    GRANT. 

sure  to  gather  knowledge  from  every  source  within  his  reach.  His 
work  on  the  "Nestorians,"  is  the  result  not  only  of  great  research, 
but  of  mature  and  well-digested  thought;  and  independently  of 
the  theory  which  it  maintains,  it  must  remain  a  monument  to  the 
honour  of  the  intellect  that  produced  it. 

In  his  moral  constitution,  he  was  not  less  favoured  than  in  his 
intellectual.  He  possessed  warm  and  generous  sensibilities,  which 
were  always  awake  to  the  story  of  human  want  or  wo.  He  had  an 
affectionate  and  confiding  spirit,  that  made  him  a  most  loving  and 
valued  friend.  He  was  bold,  and  earnest,  and  persevering,  while 
yet  he  was  not  impetuous  or  incautious.  He  possessed  great  mag- 
nanimity also — never  rendering  evil  for  evil,  or  imputing  bad 
motives  where  good  ones  might  be  supposed,  or  refusing  to  ac- 
knowledge true  excellence,  even  though  it  were  associated  with  great 
faults  or  infirmities. 

But  it  is  not  easy  to  distinguish  accurately  in  his  case,  between  the 
workings  of  nature  and  of  grace ;  for  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  his 
naturally  fine  moral  qualities  were  all  improved  and  exalted  by  the 
influence  of  religion.  His  Christian  character  was  evidently  formed 
after  the  highest  evangelical  standard — with  the  low  standards  of 
the  world  he  had  nothing  to  do — his  single  aim  manifestly  was  to 
do  all  things  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  reach  the  fullness  of  the 
stature  of  a  perfect  person  in  Christ.  Though  his  domestic  attach- 
ments were  unusually  strong,  they  were  always  manifestly  kept  in 
subordination  to  his  attachment  to  Christ  and  his  cause;  and  hence, 
when  he  was  called  to  leave  his  nearest  friends,  to  sojourn  in  a  for- 
eign land,  with  an  uncertain  prospect  of  seeing  them  again;  or 
when  his  own  dear  fomily  were  taken  from  him,  one  by  one,  till 
his  house  was  left  to  him  nearly  desolate,  he  discovered  the  most 
dignified  Christian  composure — it  was  enough  for  him  to  know  that 
Infinite  Wisdom  had  ordained  these  separations.  He  could  rejoice 
in  all  his  tribulation,  in  the  full  confidence  that  all  the  afilictions  he 
experienced  would  work  out  for  him  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory. 

And  the  man  and  the  Christian  formed  the  missionary.  It  was 
a  deep  sense  of  Christian  obligation  that  led  him  to  give  himself  to 
the  missionary  work;  for  in  doing  so  he  had  to  sacrifice  the  most 
promising  worldly  prospects,  and  could  anticipate  nothing  in  ex- 
change but  a  life  of  privation  and  hardship ;  and  from  the  time  that 
his  missionary  career  began,  or  rather  the  purpose  of  being  a  mis- 


ASAHEL    GRANT  405 

sionarj  was  definitely  formed,  he  was  a  man  of  one  idea — the  burden 
of  his  thoughts,  his  conversation,  his  letters,  his  prayers,  his  labours, 
was  the  giving  of  a  pure  Christianity  to  the  people  to  whom  he  was 
sent,  and  their  consequent  improvement,  exaltation  and  salvation. 
His  mild  and  conciliatory  and  yet  dignified  manners  disarmed  pre- 
judice and  hostility,  and  in  some  cases  were  no  doubt,  under  Prov- 
idence, instrumental  of  saving  his  life.  His  labours  were  always 
up  to  the  full  measure  of  his  ability,  and  not  unfrequently  beyond 
the  point  which  prudence  would  have  dictated.  "When  efforts  were 
made  by  the  professed  friends  of  Christianity  to  embarrass  him  in 
his  work,  he  discovered  nothing  of  a  revengeful  spirit,  but  he  looked 
at  it  chiefly  as  an  indignity  offered  to  his  Saviour.  When  he  was 
driven  from  one  field  of  labour,  he  hastened  to  another — persecu- 
tion might  embarrass  and  annoy,  but  it  could  not  intimidate  him  or 
keep  him  idle.  The  malady  of  which  he  died  found  him  actively 
engaged  in  a  ministration  of  charity;  and  the  last  intelligent  prayer 
that  proceeded  from  his  lips  was  in  behalf  of  the  scattered  and 
stricken  people  whose  temporal  and  spiritual  wants  he  was  endeav- 
ouring to  meet. 

The  news  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Grant  fell  heavily  upon  the  hearts 
of  his  friends  in  this  country,  and  upon  the  hearts  of  the  friends  of 
Evangelical  missions  every  where.  His  peculiar  position,  in  con- 
nection with  his  rare  endowments,  and  perilous  but  in  some  degree 
successful  adventures,  had  drawn  the  eyes  of  rnultitudes  towards 
him ;  and  perhaps,  at  the  moment  that  he  fell,  there  were  few  mission- 
aries in  any  field,  from  whose  labours  more  was  expected  than  from 
his.  But  the  Master  called  him  to  heaven,  when  our  wishes  and 
jarayers  would  have  detained  him  on  earth;  as  if  to  show  us  that 
the  ultimate  success  of  his  cause  depends  upon  himself,  and  that 
the  most  polished  and  best-adapted  instrument  may  be  broken,  and 
still  the  great  spiritual  building  which  he  is  rearing  may  go  on,  not 
less  rapidly  than  if  that  goodly  instrument  had  been  retained. 


JOHN    WILLIAMS. 


John  Williams  was  born  at  Tottenham  High  Cross,  near  Lon- 
don, June  29th,  1796.  His  early  education  was  limited  chiefly  to 
reading,  writing  and  arithmetic,  the  accomplishments  necessary  for 
a  commercial  life,  for  which  he  was  intended.  He  learned  a  little 
of  the  classics,  and  showed  a  degree  of  mental  activity  and  pene- 
tration beyond  the  most  of  his  associates,  but  the  traits  by  which  he 
was  distinguished  in  maturer  life,  were  imperfectly  developed  and 
scarcely  suspected.  The  instructions  of  a  pious  mother  preserved 
him  from  the  formation  of  evil  habits,  and  gave  his  mind  a  devo- 
tional bent,  which  had  the  happiest  influence  on  his  conduct  in  the 
most  critical  period  of  life. 

In  his  fourteenth  year  he  was  apprenticed  to  Mr.  Tonkin,  a  fur- 
nishing ironmonger,  an  arrangement  which  introduced  him  to  an 
employment  which  proved  excellently  adapted  to  his  powers,  and 
to  a  pious  family  by  whose  influence  he  was  led  into  the  way  of  life, 
and  prepared  for  the  distinguished  usefulness  to  which  he  afterwards 
attained.  His  indenture  provided  for  his  instruction  only  in  the 
commercial  department  of  the  business,  the  sales  and  purchases, 
without  subjecting  him  to  mechanical  labour.  But  he  had  a  decided 
partiality  for  the  employments  from  which  he  was  thus  exempted. 
While  faithfully  attending  to  his  duties  at  the  desk  and  in  the  ware- 
room,  he  was  ever  pleased  to  stand  in  the  work-shop  and  observe 
the  processes  of  the  manufacture.  Tiiere  he  set  himself,  after  his 
day's  task  was  over,  to  imitate  what  he  had  observed.  His  master 
noticed  this  with  pleasure,  as  it  was  done  at  no  expense  of  his  proper 
duties.  In  no  long  time  the  ingenious  apprentice  had  acquired  not 
only  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  business  to  which  he  was  par- 
ticularly directed,  but  excelled  in  the  mechanical  department,  and 
was  at  length  occasionally  requested  to  execute  work  that  required 
peculiar  delicacy  and  exactness  of  finish.  His  fidelity  and  upright- 
ness were  unimpeachable,  his  moral  character  unblemished.  During 
a  considerable  part  of  his  apprenticeship  he  was  trusted  with  nearly 
the  whole  management  of  the  business. 


4.08  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

Unliappilj  the  religious  promise  of  his  boyhood  was  obscured 
He  ceased  to  take  delight  in  the  Scriptures  or  in  public  worship. 
Though  he  attended  the  service  of  the  sanctuary  with  his  parents, 
out  of  filial  duty,  the  Lord's  day  was  a  weariness.  He  showed  a 
thoroughly  worldly  spirit,  and,  as  he  avers,  "often  scoffed  at  the 
name  of  Christ  and  his  religion," — a  confession  he  was  too  ingenu- 
ous to  make  for  effect.  Ilis  mother  marked  his  progress  in  the 
"broad  way "  with  painful  anxiety,  which  drove  her  to  continual 
intercession  on  his  behalf,  that  those  instructions  which  he  so  reck- 
lessly slighted  might  be  made  effectual  by  divine  power  to  the 
renewing  of  his  spirit.  He  continued  unmoved  till  his  eighteenth 
year,  when  his  course  was  arrested,  and  his  feet  were  turned  into 
the  way  of  life. 

lie  had  formed  a  practice  of  spending  his  Sunday  evenings,  with 
a  number  of  companions  in  pleasure,  at  a  tavern  near  his  master's 
residence.  An  ap])ointraent  had  been  made  for  the  evening  of  Jan- 
uary oOth,  181-1,  which  his  associates  failed  to  keep.  AVhile  waiting 
for  them  near  the  place  agreed  upon,  and  vexed  at  their  tardiness, 
he  was  observed  by  Mrs.  Tonkin  as  she  was  on  her  way  to  evening 
worship  at  the  Tabernacle.  She  inquired  the  object  of  his  visit 
there,  reproved  him  for  such  a  misuse  of  the  hours  of  the  Sabbath, 
and  invited  him  to  accompany  her.  He  complied,  rather  from  dis- 
appointment at  the  neglect  of  his  friends  than  from  any  desire  to 
hear  preaching.  The  pulpit  was  occupied  by  Eev.  Timothy  East, 
of  Birmingham,  who  preached  a  weighty  discourse  from  the  words, 
"What  is  a  man  profited,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose 
his  own  soul?  Or  what  shall  a  man  give  in  exchange  for  his  soul?" 
Its  effect  upon  his  mind  was  decisive.  He  forsook  his  evil  compan- 
ions, gave  himself  assiduously  to  the  improvement  of  the  means  of 
grace,  and  it  became  evident  in  no  long  time  that  he  had  indeed 
become  "a  new  creature."  He  was  a  decided,  practical  Christian, 
never  setting  his  feelings  above  his  duties,  nor  suffering  what  he 
regarded  as  the  solemn  business  of  life  to  degenerate  into  mere 
sentiment.  He  was  received  into  the  church  in  September,  and 
thenceforth  maintained  an  exemplary  profession  of  his  faith. 

A  society  known  as  the  "Youth's  Class,"  consisting  of  about 
thirty  members,  connected  with  the  Tabernacle  congregation,  met 
weekly  for  mutual  discussion  and  for  devotional  purposes,  by  his 
connection  with  which  John  Williams  made  much  improvement  in 
knowledge,  especially  of  Christian  truth  and  duty.     He  was  also  a 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  409 

faithful  and  useful  Sabbatli-scliool  teacher.  It  was  in  this  capacit\' 
that  he  made  his  first  public  addresses,  and  gave  indications  of  his 
fitness  for  more  extended  and  public  service  in  the  church.  In  these 
and  otRer  religious  and  benevolent  agencies  he  was  active  and  inde- 
fatigable. While  thus  engaged,  he  began  to  receive  impressions 
concerning  the  state  of  the  heathen  world  that  forbade  him  to  con- 
tent himself  with  the  measure  of  Christian  usefulness  whereto  he 
had  attained.  The  Tabernacle  Auxiliary  to  the  London  Missionary 
Society  was  in  a  flourishing  state,  and  its  meetings,  which  were  held 
quarterly,  did  much  to  diffuse  among  the  congregation  an  intelligent 
sympathy  with  the  cause.  The  mind  of  John  Williams  was  too 
active  and  ardent  to  be  the  last  in  such  a  work,  and  before  long  he 
felt  a  desire  to  go  himself  into  the  dark  places  of  the  earth.  He 
concealed  it  in  his  own  breast  for  some  time,  then  cautiously  dis- 
closed it  to  intimate  friends,  and  finally  consulted  his  affectionate 
pastor,  the  Eev.  Matthew  Wilks.  Mr.  Wilks  satisfied  himself  that 
the  youthful  applicant  was  a  fit  person  to  undertake  the  service,  and 
received  him  among  a  circle  of  students  for  the  ministry,  whom  he 
instructed  gratuitously.  He  made  rapid  progress,  and  by  the  advice 
of  his  kind  teacher  offered  himself  to  the  Directors  of  the  Mission- 
ary Society  in  July,  1816,  by  whom  he  was  unanimously  received 
as  a  missionary.  His  imperfect  preparation  made  it  exceedingly 
desirable  that  his  departure  should  be  delayed  till  he  could  complete 
a  more  thorough  course  of  study.  But  the  society  was  pressed  by 
calls  for  labourers  from  all  parts,  especially  from  South  Africa  and 
Polynesia.  The  case  was  so  urgent  that  it  seemed  better  to  send 
men  insufficiently  trained  than  to  wait  for  the  termination  of  their 
studies.  On  this  view  they  acted.  Mr.  Tonkin  was  induced  to  give 
up  his  apprentice,  whose  term  had  several  months  to  run,  and  ]\Ir. 
Williams  was  given  only  about  four  months  in  which  to  complete 
his  arrangements.  He  would  gladly  have  pursued  his  studies  longer, 
but  felt  the  force  of  the  reasons  that  led  the  directors  to  deviate 
from  the  policy  which  experience  has  shown  to  be  generally  essen- 
tial to  the  most  efficient  conduct  of  missions, — the  employment  of 
thoroughly  educated  missionaries.  He  diligently  improved  the 
limited  opportunity  afforded  him,  not  only  to  prosecute  his  literary 
and  theological  investigations,  but  to  make  himself  acquainted  with 
different  departments  of  industry.  It  was  his  settled  purpose  to 
accompany  religious  teaching  with  such  instruction  in  the  useful 
arts  as  should  contribute  at  once  to  the  moral  and  social  improve- 


410  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

merit  of  the  islanders  to  wlioin  he  was  sent.  He  was  married  in 
October,  to  a  woman  admirably  fitted  to  be  his  companion  in  mis- 
sionary labours,  as  she  had  been  in  the  spheres  of  usefulness  in  which 
he  walked  so  steadily  at  home.  He  was  ordained,  with  his  three 
colleagues,  Messrs,  Darling,  Piatt  and  Bourne,  and  four  others  desig- 
nated for  the  South  African  Mission,  and  on  the  17th  of  November. 
1816,  the  company  embarked  for  the  South  Seas.  Mr.  Williams 
took  leave  of  his  friends  tenderly,  yet  cheerfully,  and  set  out  full  of 
hope  on  his  errand  of  mercy. 

A  fine  run  of  five  weeks  brought  the  vessel  to  Rio  Janeiro.  After 
remaining  three  weeks,  they  sailed  for  New  South  Wales.  In  con- 
sequence of  a  detention  of  five  weeks  at  Hobart's  Town,  they  did 
not  reach  Sydney  till  May  12th,  1817,  and  here  they  were  obliged 
to  wait  till  the  following  September  for  a  passage  to  Tahiti.  They 
set  sail  on  the  4th,  and  in  eight  days  came  in  sight  of  New-Zealand, 
but  before  reaching  anchorage  a  heavy  gale  drove  them  three  hun- 
dred miles  out  of  their  course.  Eleven  days  after,  they  had  retraced 
their  course,  and  Avere  sheltered  in  the  Bay  of  Islands.  Ilei'e  they 
enjoyed  for  nineteen  days  the  society  of  the  missionaries,  who  were 
just  beginning  to  perceive  some  effect  of  those  labours  which  have 
since  done  so  much  for  the  New-Zealanders.  Taking  leave  of  these 
brethren,  they  departed  for  their  destination";  and  arrived  on  the  17th 
of  November,  just  twelve  months  after  their  original  embarkation. 

The  missions  in  Polynesia  are  among  the  most  interesting  that 
have  been  undertaken  in  modern  times.  The  discovery  of  such  an 
immense  number  of  islands  before  unsuspected,  the  strange  charac- 
ter of  their  inhabitants  and  productions,  with  all  the  romantic  tales 
engendered  of  maritime  adventure  in  those  regions,  produced  a  pro- 
found sensation  in  England;  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that 
those  who  survey  the  world  with  an  eye  instructed  by  the  word  of 
God,  looking  intently  for  providential  tokens  to  guide  the  enterprises 
of  Christian  benevolence,  should  have  recognised  such  a  token  in 
these  discoveries.  Among  others,  the  Countess  of  Huntington  was 
greatly  affected  in  view  of  the  condition  of  the  people  inhabiting 
the  Pacific  isles.  She  longed  to  see  the  gospel  conveyed  to  them, 
and  on  her  death-bed  charged  her  chaplain,  Rev.  Dr.  Haweis,  not  to 
lose  sight  of  this  object. 

When  the  London  Missionary  Society  was  organized,  in  1795, 
and  the  question  arose,  to  what  part  of  the  world  their  efforts  should 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  411 

be  first  directed,  Dr.  Haweis  was  requested  to  prepare  a  memoir  on 
this  subject,  and  while  mindful  of  the  claims  of  other  heathen,  the 
magnitude  of  which  so  far  transcended  the  means  at  the  disposal  of 
the  society,  concluded  that  the  South  Seas  should  be  the  first  object 
of  attention.  Commercially  or  politically  considered,  it  may  be  that 
his  decision  would  be  disputed,  though  even  in  this  aspect  recent 
events  have  given  to  Polynesia  an  importance  not  imagined  at  that 
time.  But  if  the  primary  object  of  missions  has  regard,  as  it  surely 
has,  to  a  kingdom  which  is  not  of  this  world,  the  absence  of  political 
greatness,  which  has  done  so  much  to  fetter  and  resist  the  progress  of 
Christianity,  was  a  circumstance  not  altogether  unfavourable.  Keep- 
ing in  mind  the  chief  end  just  indicated,  if  the  claims  of  a  people  are 
to  be  measured  by  their  need,  the  degradation  of  the  islanders  made 
an  urgent  appeal  to  the  churches;  if  the  absence  of  exterior  obstacles 
to  evangelization  were  an  inducement,  no  fairer  field  than  those  that 
deck  the  South  Pacific  could  be  sought;  and  if  it  were  desirable  to  put 
the  power  of  the  gospel  to  the  severest  test,  its  contact  with  savages 
so  debased  was  the  very  test  required.  The  stupidity  of  the  Hottentot, 
the  cruelty  of  the  Malay,  the  effeminacy  of  the  Hindoo,  presented  noth- 
ing more  hopeless  than  such  a  combination  of  sensuality,  superstition, 
and  unnatural  cruelty,  as  the  first  missionaries  of  this  society  encoun- 
tered— and  overcame  "by  the  word  of  their  testimony." 

Tahiti,  the  first  scene  of  their  efforts,  together  with  some  other  of 
the  Society  Islands,  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Williams'  arrival,  had  already 
begun  to  give  proof  of  the  energy  which  resides  in  the  gospel,  when 
preached  in  faith  and  in  dependence  on  the  Spirit's  effectual  working. 
Idolatry  was  abolished.  The  people,  though  not  generally  Chris- 
tians except  in  name,  were  eager  for  instruction,  and  some  were 
gathered  in  church-fellowship,  for  which  their  consistent  lives 
demonstrated  their  fitness.  Public,  social  and  family  worship  were 
attended  regularly  to  a  considerable  extent.  Compared  with  what 
had  been  observed  on  the  commencement  of  the  mission  and  for 
years  afterwards,  it  might  be  truly  said  that  the  desert  was  blossom- 
ing like  the  rose.  Mr.  Williams'  first  impressions  were  of  the  most 
pleasing  kind.  A  view  of  the  neat  chapel  at  Eimeo,  the  island  on 
which  he  was  first  stationed,  the  sound  of  praise  going  up  from  every 
dwelling  around  it,  morning  and  evening,  and  the  general  decorum 
which  marked  the  people,  all  conspired  to  awaken  admiration  and 
gratitude.  It  seemed  incredible  that  he  was  on  heathen  ground. 
He  hardly  thought  he  was  needed  there.     Further  observation  chas- 


412  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

tened  these  feelings.  It  was  clear  that  a  large  majority  of  the  peo- 
ple, while  attached  in  no  common  measure  to  the  missionaries,  as 
persons  to  whom  they  were  greatly  indebted,  and  though  to  some 
extent  interested  in  learning  the  truth,  were  by  no  means  subjected 
to  its  power.  They  were  still  slaves  to  their  depraved  passions, 
"lovers  of  pleasure  rather  than  lovers  of  God."  Enough  had  been 
accomplished  to  reward  the  exertions  already  bestowed  on  the  field, 
to  show  the  vitality  of  the  seed  sown  and  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  to 
stimulate  to  increased  and  persevering  industry,  and  to  confirm  the 
faith  in  which  the  sowers  had  gone  forth  to  sow. 

Mr.  Williams  remained  some  months  at  Eimeo,  assisting  the  mis- 
sionaries and  acquiring  the  language.  His  first  work,  however,  was 
of  a  mechanical  kind,  in  the  building  of  a  small  vessel  for  more 
convenient  communication  between  the  several  islands.  He  executed 
the  iron  work,  and  in  ten  days  she  was  completed  and  successfully 
launched.  In  the  study  of  the  language  he  placed  little  reliance  on. 
grammars  or  lexicons,  but  went  about  familiarly  conversing  with 
the  people.  A  power  of  nice  and  rapid  observation  and  a  retentive 
memory  made  him  more  successful  in  the  application  of  this  method 
than  many  would  have  been.  Within  ten  months  from  his  arrival 
at  Eimeo,  to  the  surprise  of  his  associates,  he  was  able  to  preach 
intelligibly.  His  first  sermon  was  delivered  on  the  island  of  Hua- 
hine,  one  of  the  Leeward  Islands,  to  which  he  was  borne  by  one  of 
those  providential  agencies  so  often  noted  in  the  history  of  missions, 
testifying  the  facility  with  which  Divine  sovereignty  overrules  the 
wrath  of  man  to  the  praise  of  God. 

A  rebellion  against  the  government  of  King  Pomare  in  Tahiti 
had  summoned  a  number  of  the  chiefs  of  Huahine  to  aid  in  restoring 
the  royal  authority.  After  their  work  was  successfully  concluded, 
there  was  a  marked  increase  of  interest  in  religion,  in  which  these 
chiefs  participated.  They  remained  for  a  considerable  time,  unwill- 
ing to  return  without  further  light.  The  missionaries  naturally 
regarded  them  with  special  attention,  and  gladly  seized  on  an  oppor- 
tunity to  extend  the  triumphs  of  the  truth.  It  was  determined  to 
establish  a  mission  in  Huahine,  and  Mr.  Williams  was  despatched 
on  the  18th  of  June,  1818,  in  company  with  Rev.  Messrs.  Ellis  and 
Orsmond  and  their  families,  the  chiefs  and  an  interpreter.  They 
were  joyfully  welcomed  by  the  people,  who  did  every  thing  they 
could  for  their  comfort.  The  arrival  of  the  missionaries  was  soon 
made  known  through  Huahine  and  the  other  islands  of  the  group. 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  413 

Numerous  visiters  came,  some  prompted  bj  curiosity  and  some  by 
worthier  motives.  Among  them  was  Tamatoa,  the  King  of  Eaiatea, 
who  came  with  his  principal  chiefs  to  solicit  missionaries  to  reside 
among  his  people.  Mr.  "Williams  was  much  interested  in  the  inci- 
dent, and  sent  to  his  older  colleagues  to  advise  in  the  matter.  Others 
not  being  ready  to  go,  he  decided  to  leave  Huahine,  with  its  fair 
promise,  and  to  commence  still  another  mission.  To  this  he  was 
moved  by  a  particular  consideration  of  the  relation  of  Eaiatea  to 
the  other  Society  Islands. 

Eaiatea  is  the  largest  and  most  central  island  of  the  group,  about 
fifty  miles  in  circumference,  encircled  by  a  reef  with  inlets  admitting 
the  largest  ships  to  a  lagoon  that  offers  safe  anchorage.  Its  moun- 
tainous character  makes  it  remarkable  among  the  lower  and  more 
beautiful  isles,  in  the  midst  of  which  it  rises  with  sombre  magnifi- 
cence. Though  fertile  and  attractive,  the  population  had  been 
reduced  by  war  and  the  cruelties  of  superstition  to  about  thirteen 
hundred.  Its  importance  as  a  missionary  station  was  by  no  means 
to  be  measured  by  the  number  of  its  inhabitants.  It  had  been  the 
centre  of  political  and  religious  influence  to  a  large  circle.  Its 
kings  had  long  received  homage  and  tribute  of  the  chiefs  both  of 
the  Society  and  Georgian  islands,  and  had  even  been  the  objects  of 
religious  veneration.  It  was,  moreover,  the  capital  of  superstition 
to  a  large  part  of  Polynesia, — their  Mecca,  or  Eome.  The  abomina- 
ble rites,  whose  pollution  and  cruelty  have  devastated  "the  island- 
world  of  the  Pacific,"  went  forth  from  Eaiatea.  This  was  the  fortress, 
the  very  citadel  of  the  enemy,  and  it  is  no  matter  of  surprise  that 
Mr.  Williams  was  eager  to  enter  it,  the  more  so  as  his  way  was 
already  prepared.  Two  years  before,  a  vessel  having  on  board 
King  Pomare,  nine  Tahitians  and  Mr.  Wilson,  one  of  the  missiona- 
ries, was  driven  by  a  violent  gale  to  Eaiatea.  They  were  hospitably 
received,  and  remained  three  months.  During  this  time  the  gospel 
was  for  the  first  time  spoken  in  the  ears  of  that  people.  They  list- 
ened with  wonder,  many  turned  away  from  the  message,  but  some 
were  attracted  to  it.  Among  them  were  King  Tamatoa  and  a  num- 
ber of  his  chiefs.  They  renounced  their  superstitious  usages,  and 
when  the  Christian  company  to  whom  they  had  been  so  far  indebted 
left  them,  they  erected  a  place  of  worship,  observed  the  Lord's  day, 
and  met  together  to  converse  on  the  precious  truths  they  had  par- 
tially learned.  They  now  came  to  ask  for  men  who  should  teach 
til  em  "the  way  of  the  Lord  more  perfectly." 


414  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

Taking  with  him  as  an  associate  Mr.  Threlkeld,  Mr.  Williams 
proceeded  in  September  to  Eaiatea,  and  met  a  most  hearty  reception 
from  numbers  of  the  people.  Their  kindness  to  the  missionaries 
was  not  indeed  very  intelligent.  They  called  themselves  Christians, 
because  Tamatoa  had  made  it  the  national  religion,  and  frequented 
the  place  of  worship  in  their  neatest  attire,  listening  to  the  preach- 
ing with  an  air  that  would  impose  on  a  stranger.  But  a  near 
acquaintance  speedily  repressed  the  first  admiration.  Their  idle- 
ness was  invincible,  and  their  moral  state  unutterably  debased. 
Practices  which  it  is  not  good  to  describe  even  by  insinuation  met 
the  pitying  eyes  of  their  teachers  daily.  Argument  was  lost  upon 
them.  Added  to  the  moral  obstacles  that  impeded  all  effort  for 
their  improvement,  they  were  sparsely  scattered  over  so  wide  a  sur- 
face that  much  time  and  wearisome  toil  were  consumed  in  seeking 
them  out  from  place  to  place.  A  bold  attempt  was  made  to  remedy 
this  evil.  A  general  meeting  of  the  inhabitants  was  convened.  The 
missionaries  explained  to  them  the  advantages  of  a  more  compact 
settlement.  Various  difficulties  were  made,  but  all  objections  were 
so  successfully  met  that  the  plan  was  adopted  with  general  unanimity. 
A  site  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  island  was  selected,  a  temporary 
chapel  and  school-house  were  built,  and  vigorous  measures  were 
taken  to  clear  the  ground  for  the  occupation  of  the  people. 

Mr.  Williams,  in  making  preparations  for  his  own  residence, 
determined  to  erect  a  good  house  in  the  English  style,  not  so  much 
for  his  personal  satisfaction  as  to  stimulate  the  natives  to  improve- 
ment. Their  dwellings  were  mere  thatched  huts,  each  having  only 
a  single  apartment,  where  the  inmates  without  distinction  of  sex 
were  huddled  together  on  a  carpet  of  dry  grass,  not  always  of  the 
cleanest  quality.  To  change  their  habits  for  the  better,  to  introduce 
a  style  of  houses  suited  to  domestic  comfort  and  morality,  he  knew 
could  be  best  undertaken  by  way  of  example.  Such  a  building  as 
he  erected  was  never  before  seen  in  Eaiatea.  He  had  the  work  to 
do  for  himself,  as  the  people  were  incompetent  to  do  more  than  aid 
in  collecting  the  materials.  Great  was  the  astonishment  and  admi- 
ration excited  by  a  framed  house,  sixty  feet  by  thirty,  plastered 
within  and  without,  the  interior  walls  of  a  gray  and  orange  colour, 
the  area  divided  into  seven  apartments,  well  lighted,  and  shaded  by 
Venetian  blinds.  A  flower  and  kitchen  garden,  each  handsomely 
laid  out  and  well  tended,  a  poultry-yard,  and  other  useful  and  orna- 
mental accompaniments,  completed  a  picture  of  rural  beauty  and 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  415 

comfort  worthy  of  any  land.  The  furniture  equall}^  attested  his 
taste  and  skill.  The  effect  was  decided.  The  people  were  roused 
from  their  indolence,  and  beset  him  with  solicitations  to  do  or  explain 
for  them  some  process  to  which  they  were  incompetent.  Though  it 
withdrew  him  from  more  important  matters  to  some  extent,  he 
regarded  his  own  building  and  his  mechanical  instructions  as  neces- 
sary and  useful.  It  would  have  been  no  difficult  matter  to  content 
himself  with  a  hut  one  or  two  removes  from  the  character  of  the 
native  hovels,  but,  as  he  expressed  it,  "the  missionary  does  not  go 
to  barbarize  himself,  but  to  elevate  the  heathen;  not  to  sink  himself 
to  their  standard,  but  to  elevate  them  to  his." 

Still  he  was  by  no  means  neglectful  of  the  great  purpose  that  sent 
him  there.  During  the  utmost  pressure  of  secular  cares  he  worked 
diligently  at  his  spiritual  calling.  He  attended  the  school  daily, 
preached  every  week,  and,  to  prevent  distraction,  worked  on  his 
house  only  three  days  out  of  six.  His  sitting-room  was  every  even- 
ing filled  with  persons  seeking  information,  proposing  difficulties 
or  asking  advice.  In  a  year  from  his  arrival  he  was  able  to  report 
that  a  settlement  of  a  thousand  people  had  been  gathered,  their 
dwellings  ranging  about  two  miles  along  the  beach.  Several  neat 
houses  had  been  built  in  a  civilized  style,  and  improved  social  habits 
had  begun  to  take  root.  A  place  of  worship  had  been  erected  on 
the  island  of  Tahaa,  ten  miles  distant,  within  the  same  reef  that 
encloses  Eaiatea.  Industry,  thrift  and  neatness  were  turning  the 
desert  into  a  garden.  All  this,  however,  would  have  been  impossi- 
ble but  for  the  powerful  motives  drawn  from  the  gospel,  with  which 
the  people  were  assiduously  plied.  By  the  school,  the  ministrations 
of  the  sanctuary,  and  unwearied  private  instruction  and  admonition, 
the  minds  of  all  were  more  or  less  impregnated  with  the  life-fraught 
truth.  In  aid  of  these  efforts  the  printing-press,  which  had  been 
set  up  at  Huahine,  did  wonders.  Eight  hundred  copies  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  Luke,  and  a  supply  of  elementary  books,  were  sent  over,  and 
excited  among  the  people  a  general  desire  to  read.  Nearly  all  the 
adult  inhabitants  attended  the  school,  and  men  with  grey  hairs  mioht 
have  been  seen  mastering  the  alphabet  in  company  with  the  young- 
est children. 

It  was  obvious  that  without  some  reform  in  the  government,  the 
improvement  of  the  people  could  not  be  permanent.  Security  of 
person  and  property  and  an  equal  administration  of  justice  were 
indispensable.     Yet  it  was  not  easy  to  see  how  the  chiefs  were  to  be 


416  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

induced  to  give  up  their  despotic  prerogatives.  The  business  was 
a  deHcate  one,  but  was  successfally  undertaken.  Stories  about  Eng- 
land always  found  attentive  listeners,  and  the  missionaries  took 
occasion  to  relate,  as  far  as  they  could  intelligibly  do  so,  some- 
thing of  the  laws,  polity  and  jurisprudence  of  their  native  land. 
Their  words  sunk  into  the  hearts  of  their  auditors,  and  at  length 
the  chiefs  voluntarily  assembled,  sent  for  the  missionaries,  and  asked 
their  aid  in  framing  more  righteous  and  equitable  laws.  One  of  the 
worst  abuses  was  the  frequency  of  divorces  on  the  most  frivolous 
causes,  or  more  frequently  from  no  motive  but  personal  caprice. 
This  was  at  once  arrested,  and  some  twenty  couples  who  had  sepa- 
rated in  this  manner  were  commanded  to  reunite.  They  complied, 
and  most  of  them  lived  very  happily  together,  to  the  manifest 
increase  of  social  harmony  and  good  order.  The  missionaries  were 
freely  accused  by  their  enemies, — more  especially  by  seamen  who 
found  their  licentious  indulgences  checked  by  the  new  order  of 
things, — of  having  interfered  arbitrarily  with  the  government.  Sup- 
pose they  had ;  their  power  being  exerted  to  eradicate  immorality 
and  crime,  could  only  have  been  obnoxious  to  those  who  made  the 
ignorant  islanders  the  prey  of  their  corrupt  passions.  But  the 
charge  is  absurd.  Three  or  four  men,  without  military  force,  can- 
not revolutionize  a  nation,  even  of  so  few  as  thirteen  hundred  souls. 
It  would  have  been  an  easy  matter  to  make  the  intruders  food  for 
fishes,  or  for  a  cannibal  banquet,  had  the  people  not  been  won  by 
their  affectionate  and  disinterested  teachings. 

For  a  considerable  time  the  chiefs  continued  their  political  delib- 
erations, which  resulted  in  the  digest  of  a  code  of  laws,  the  settling 
of  a  judicial  system  including  trial  by  jury,  the  appointment  of 
judges  and  executive  officers.  All  was  publicly  discussed  in  a  gen- 
eral meeting  of  the  inhabitants.  No  law  or  official  appointment  was 
passed  without  first  being  freely  canvassed  and  approved  by  the 
Assembly.  So  that,  though  nominally  monarchical  or  aristocratic, 
the  government  bore  a  near  resemblance  to  the  "fierce  democratic" 
of  Athens  in  its  actual  administration.  The  throne  of  Tamatoa 
might  be  said,  with  more  literal  truth  than  it  was  said  of  Louis 
Philippe's,  to  have  been  "surrounded  by  republican  institutions." 

These  important  measures,  except  the  one  last  mentioned,  were 
completed  within  the  first  year  of  the  existence  of  the  mission.  Its 
success  had  been  striking  and  immediate  beyond  all  previous  exam- 
[ile,  though  subsequent  events  in  the  Pacific  have  somewhat  famil- 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  417 

iarized  the  Christian  public  to  the  spectacle  of  rapid  transformations 
in  the  people  of  Polynesia.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  reli- 
gious progress  of  the  Raiateans  corresponded  with  their  outward 
advance.  A  stranger  would  have  been  charmed  at  the  aspect  of  the 
Sabbath  congregations,  the  schools,  the  dress  and  dwellings  of  the 
people,  their  growing  skill  in  the  useful  arts,  and  the  general  deco- 
rum that  7-eigned  among  them.  But,  with  few  exceptions,  they  knew 
little  of  the  truth  or  the  spiritual  power  of  the  gospel.  They  had 
renounced  their  old  religion,  and  had  adopted  the  profession  and  the 
forms  of  Christianity  en  masse.  They  saw  the  temporal  benefits  of 
Christian  institutions,  and  had  some  dim  notion  of  its  promised  bless- 
ings in  respect  to  other  worlds  than  this.  With  a  prompt  benevo- 
lence that  attested  the  simplicity  of  their  "little  faith,"  they  formed 
(also  within  the  eventful  first  year  of  the  mission,  an  appropriate 
close  of  such  a  season)  an  auxiliary  missionary  society,  to  aid  in 
giving  the  gospel  to  others.  King  Tamatoa  was  at  the  head  of  this 
association,  and  both  by  precept  and  example  encouraged  the  mem- 
bers to  liberality.  At  the  same  time  he  warned  them  against 
neglecting  their  own  salvation  while  working  for  others'.  He 
reminded  them  that  many  who  helped  build  the  ark  may  have  been 
drowned  in  the  flood.  "Let  us  not,"  he  exclaimed,  "be  like  the 
scaffolding,  which  is  useful  in  building  the  house,  but  is  afterwards 
thrown  into  the  fire." 

The  next  year,  besides  the  enactment  of  the  new  code  of  laws, 
witnessed  the  erection  of  a  new  church  and  court-house,  both  under 
one  roof,  making  the  entire  structure  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
one  feet  by  forty-four ;  about  forty  feet  of  the  length  was  partitioned 
off  for  the  temple  of  justice,  leaving  the  church  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  feet  long.  It  was,  like  Mr,  Williams'  dwelling,  made  in 
the  European  style  as  far  as  it  could  be,  and  in  the  excellence  and 
completeness  of  its  interior  arrangements  it  was  superior  to  any 
previous  architectural  achievement  in  the  South  Seas.  Mr.  Williams 
likewise  set  up  a  sugar-mill,  the  sugar-cane  being  indigenous,  regard- 
ing it  as  a  business  that  might  be  advantageously  and  steadily 
pursued  by  the  people.  They  had  already  become  so  expert  in 
mechanical  labour,  that  he  had  none  of  the  more  laborious  work  to 
do,  though  they  had  not  attained  to  much  beauty  of  finish.  The 
settlement  was  alive  with  lime-burning,  sugar-boiling,  boat-building, 
house-building,  joiner}'  and  furniture-making,  and  iron-craft  of  dif- 
ferent kinds;  women  were  equally  busy  in  employments  proper  to 
27 


418  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

their  sex.  The  school  was  flourishing,  and  the  missionaries  had 
abundant  opportunity  for  proclaiming  divine  truth  to  attentive  audi- 
tors. A  few,  as  was  natural,  found  no  happiness  in  the  altered  state 
of  things.  They  hated  the  restraint  on  their  evil  passions,  and  went 
so  far  as  to  plot  the  murder  of  Tamatoa  and  the  missionaries.  But 
their  designs  were  discovered;  the  conspirators  were  sentenced  to 
death,  but  at  the  intercession  of  the  missionaries,  the  sentence  was 
commuted  to  banishment  to  an  uninhabited  island.  In  their  advice 
upon  the  code,  the  missionaries  had  not  taken  the  responsibility  of 
recommending  capital  punishment,  and  forbore  suggesting  any  law  in 
regard  to  murder  or  treason.  The  chiefs  and  people,  without  waiting 
for  advice,  now  promulgated  a  statute  making  those  oifences  capital. 

The  opening  of  the  church  was  signalized  by  the  anniversary 
meeting  of  the  auxiliary  missionary  societ3\  The  contributions 
were  eleven  thousand  bamboos  of  cocoa-nut  oil,  which  brought  on 
sale,  after  deducting  freight  and  other  charges,  £500.  The  excite- 
ment of  novelty,  a  spirit  of  ostentation,  and  other  exceptionable 
motives,  undoubtedly  swelled  the  contributions  out  of  all  proportion 
to  the  degree  of  Christian  benevolence  possessed  by  the  donors;  but 
after  making  all  necessary  deductions,  the  fact  is  one  of  rare  interest. 
The  same  month  witnessed  the  first  public  profession  of  Christian 
faith, — the  admission  of  seventy  persons  to  the  initiatory  rite  of 
Christianity.*     A  small  church  was  soon  after  constituted. 

Much  as  had  been  accomplished,  Mr.  Williams  began  to  be  dis- 
satisfiedVith  his  position.  The  smallness  of  the  population,  which 
was  still  diminishing  yearly,  contrasted  with  the  myriads  who  were 
destitute  of  the  word  of  life,  made  his  sphere  seem  contracted.  It 
looked  like  a  needless  expenditure  of  men  and  means  to  keep  three 

*  How  many  of  these  were  regarded  as  true  converts,  giving  evidence  of  regenera- 
tion, it  is  not  possible  to  state.  The  churc-h  numbered  in  1822  thirty  persons.  Mr. 
Williams,  in  defining  "the  principles  on  which  we  baptized  them,"  says:  "We  admit 
all  who  appear  cordially  to  receive  the  gospel,  who  regularly  attend  divine  ordi- 
nances, and  in  whose  conduct  there  is  nothing  immoral."  It  may  be  remarked,  in 
passing,  that  the  diversity  of  practice  in  this  matter  needs  to  be  continually  borne  in 
mind,  in  considering  reports  of  missionary  success.  American  missionaries,  except 
those  sent  out  by  churches  that  adopt  the  contrary  course  at  home  as  well  as  abroad, 
are  very  generally  agreed  in  .admitting  no  adult  to  either  of  the  sacraments  until 
good  presumptive  proofs  of  a  spiritual  change  appear.  Hence  the  report  that  a  cer- 
tain number  "  were  baptized,"  in  most  cases,  signifies  much  less  in  reports  of  many 
English  missions  than  the  same  phraseology  would  do  when  uttered  by  the  lUMJority 
of  Anil  rican  missionaries. 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  419 

missionary  families  busied  on  a  population  of  little  more  than  a  thou- 
sand souls.  He  was  only  twentj-four  years  old,  and  might  hope  to 
be  useful  many  years  in  another  country.  These  feelings  he  frankly 
communicated  to  the  Directors,  and  was  near  committing  the  impro- 
priety of  breaking  his  engagements  by  quitting  his  station  without 
their  assent.  But  the  departure  of  one  of  his  colleagues,  leaving  the 
care  of  the  mission  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  himself  and  Mr. 
Threlkeld,  gave  him  more  occupation,  and  an  event  shortly  after 
occurred  which  opened  a  new  enterprise  to  his  view. 

The  island  of  Kurutu,  about  three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  south 
of  Raiatea,  was  visited  by  a  very  fatal  epidemic.  Two  chiefs,  with 
as  many  of  their  followers  as  they  could  take  with  them,  set  out  in 
boats  to  flee  to  some  happier  isle,  from  an  infliction  which  the}'  all 
attributed  to  the  anger  of  their  gods.  They  reached  the  island  of 
Tubuai,  where  they  recruited  their  strength  and  courage.  Attempt- 
ing to  return,  they  were  overtaken  by  a  storm,  in  which  one  party 
perished.  The  others  were  driven  for  weeks  they  knew  not  whither, 
and,  after  suffering  greatly  from  hunger,  were  cast  on  one  of  the 
Society  Islands.  Here  they  were  hospitably  received,  and  learned 
what  changes  had  taken  place  among  that  people.  Desirous  of  seeing 
the  foreign  teachers' who  had  brought  such  strange  and  excellent 
doctrines  among  them,  they  set  out  for  that  purpose,  and  found  their 
way  to  Raiatea.  The  wonders  of  that  island  astonished  them.  They 
placed  themselves  at  once  under  instruction.  During  three  months 
that  they  remained  there,  the  chief  Auuru  and  several  others  learned 
t(j  read  and  write.  An  English  vessel  offered  them  a  passage  home, 
which  they  gladly  accepted;  but  the  chief  desired  that  teachers 
should  accompany  them.  He  was  unwilling,  he  said,  to  return  to 
"their  land  of  darkness  without  a  light  in  his  hand."  Two  mem- 
bers of  the  congregation  offered  to  go,  and  were  set  apart  for  that 
purpose.  With  some  elementary  books,  copies  of  the  Gospels,  and 
a  few  necessary  mechanical  implements,  they  departed  on  their  mis- 
sion. The  people  of  Rurutu  received  them  gladly,  and  in  a  little 
more  than  a  month  they  transmitted  to  Raiatea,  as  trophies  of  their 
first  victory,  the  rejected  gods  of  Rurutu.     Idolatry  was  abolished. 

This  event  led  Mr.  Williams  to  dismiss  all  thoughts  of  forsaking 
his  station.  It  assumed  a  new  importance  as  a  centre  from  which 
the  truth  might  be  radiated  far  into  the  surrounding  darkness.  He 
proposed  the  plan  which  has  proved  so  successful,  of  a  missionary 


420  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

ship  expressly  to  convey  missionaries  and  teachers  from  island  to 
island,  facilitating  intercourse  between  the  several  Christian  commu- 
nities and  tlic  means  of  communicating  with  others.  The  continued 
liberality  of  their  congregation  in  contributing  for  missionary  pur- 
poses confirmed  his  views,  and  he  shortly  revoked  his  application 
for  leave  to  withdraw.  A  severe  sickness  threatened  to  compel  him 
to  go,  just  when  he  felt  most  desirous  to  remain;  happily  he  was 
spared  the  pain  of  such  a  separation  from  his  work.  The  tidings  of 
his  mother's  death  reached  him  about  this  time,  an  affliction  which 
he  felt  more  than  his  bold  and  steady  demeanour  and  constitutional 
cheerfulness  would  permit  a  casual  acquaintance  to  suspect  before- 
hand. The  sensitiveness  of  his  nature  was  really  exquisite,  and  he 
gave  vent  to  his  emotions  in  words  surcharged  with  grief. 

A  return  of  his  malady  compelling  a  voyage  home,  or  at  least  of 
some  distance,  he  repaired  to  Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  taking 
with  him  teachers  for  the  island  of  Aitutaki,  of  which  he  had  heard 
from  Auuru,  These  were  well  received  by  the  people,  to  whom  he 
explained  the  purpose  of  their  visit.  At  Sydney  he  made  arrange- 
ments for  the  cultivation  of  sugar  and  tobacco  as  articles  of  com- 
merce, and  purchased  a  variety  of  useful  articles  that  he  wished  to 
introduce  among  the  people.  He  also  purchased  the  "Endeavour," 
a  vessel  of  from  eighty  to  ninety  tons.  The  Society's  agent  at  first 
declined  sanctioning  such  a  purchase,  but  a  ship  he  was  determined 
to  have,  if  necessary  on  his  own  pecuniary  responsibility.  By  the 
death  of  his  mother  he  inherited  a  small  property,  and  this  he  was 
ready  to  sacrifice  for  an  object  so  desirable.  The  agent  finally  agreed 
for  the  society  to  share  the  responsibility.  Having  accomplished 
his  plans,  he  set  out  on  his  return,  and  was  once  more  at  Raiatea,  with 
health  and  hopes  invigorated,  on  the  6th  of  June,  1822.  During  his 
absence  a  plot,  entered  into  by  a  few  persons  to  overthrow  the  gov- 
ernment, had  been  discovered,  and  ten  conspirators  were  convicted 
of  treason ;  but  the  punishment  of  death,  at  the  intercession  of  Mr. 
Threlkeld,  was  commuted  to  hard  labour  during  life. 

The  year  1823  saw  Mr.  Williams  embarking  in  those  enterprises 
which  arc  so  intimately  associated  with  his  name,  and  which  his 
own  vivacious  pen  has  perpetuated.  We  have  observed  that  the 
mission  to  llurutu  gave  to  his  mind  a  new  impulse,  which  subse- 
quent events  strengthened.  The  introduction  of  the  gospel  into 
Aitutaki,  one  of  the  Hervey  Islands,  suggested  the  possibility  of 


JOHN    WILLIAMS,  421 

evangelizing  the  whole  by  similar  agencies,  and  of  extending  the 
process  to  other  groups.  In  his  intercourse  with  Auuru  he  heard 
much  of  Rarotonga,  an  island  thirty  miles  in  circumference,  and 
containing  from  six  to  seven  thousand  inhabitants.  It  had  escaped 
the  search  of  Captain  Cook,  and  its  situation  was  not  accurately 
known,  though  often  mentioned  on  the  other  islands,  and  as  it 
appears  once  or  twice  visited  by  European  vessels.  All  that  he 
heard,  made  him  exceedingly  desirous  to  discover  and  enlighten  the 
Rarotongans.  Tidings  now  came  that  several  of  them  were  at 
Aitutaki,  had  there  embraced  Christianity,  and  desired  to  communi- 
cate it  to  their  countrymen.  The  chiefs  offered  him  the  use  of  their 
vessel ;  and  as  the  health  of  Mrs.  Williams,  which  was  feeble,  seemed 
to  solicit  an  excursion  to  a  more  temperate  climate,  he  set  out  on  his 
first  expedition  to  extend  the  reign  of  the  gospel.  With  Mr.  Bourne 
and  six  native  teachers,  he  sailed  for  Aitutaki  on  the  4th  of  July.  Ar- 
rived on  the  9th,  they  learned  that  the  people  had  so  generally  made 
profession  of  Christianity  that  scarcely  an  idolater  was  to  be  found; 
the  Sabbath  was  strictly  observed,  and  divine  service  punctually 
attended  by  the  whole  population,  and  that  a  chapel,  two  hundred  feet 
long,  was  just  ready  to  be  opened.  The  change  was  marvellous. 
"Eighteen  months  ago,"  Mr.  Williams  observes,  "they  were  the  wild- 
est people  I  had  ever  witnessed :  now  they  had  become  mild  and  do- 
cile, diligent  and  kind."  They  had  been  in  fact  cannibals,  but  were  now 
learning,  as  fast  as  their  circumstances  would  admit,  the  law  of  love. 
From  Aitutaki  he  proceeded  in  search  of  Rarotonga,  but  after 
sailing  five  days  was  obliged  to  give  up  the  enterprise,  and  make  for 
some  other  port.  The  island  of  Mangaia  was  first  visited.  The  people 
were  shy,  and  made  hostile  demonstrations.  After  some  parleying, 
the  native  teachers  went  on  shore,  but  were  immediately  seized, 
plundered  of  every  valuable  article  in  their  possession,  stripped 
nearly  naked,  and  placed  in  imminent  peril,  from  which  they  were 
rescued  with  difficulty.  Postponing  further  efforts  on  their  behalf, 
the  company  next  sailed  to  Atiu.  Here  they  met  with  a  more  favour 
able  reception,  and  idolatry  was  abolished  both  there  and  in  neigh-, 
bouring  islands  of  Mauke  and  Mitiaro.  Roma-tane,  the  principle 
chief  of  Atiu,  was  able  to  give  more  definite  intelligence  as  to  the 
direction  of  Rarotonga,  and  they  set  out  once  more  on  their  voyage 
of  discovery.  They  were  baffled  by  contrary  winds  for  several  days, 
and  beat  about  till  their  provisions  were  nearly  exhausted.  An 
hour  was  fixed,  within  which,  if  the  island  was  not  discovered,  they 


422  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

were  to  turn  back.  In  lialf  an  hour  tlie  clouds  tliat  liid  its  towering 
heights  from  their  eyes  were  dispersed,  and  the  object  of  their  search 
was  distinctly  visible.  Exultation  at  his  success,  admiration  of  the 
rocky  mountains  and  luxuriant  valleys  that  lay  before  him,  and 
pity  for  the  degraded  savages  who  dwelt  there,  contended  for  mas- 
tery in  the  missionary's  breast;  and  doubt  as  to  the  reception  they 
might  meet  with,  awakened  no  little  solicitude  in  the  minds  of  all. 
They  "wondered  and  held  their  peace,  to  wit  whether  the  Lord 
would  make  their  journey  prosperous  or  not." 

First  appearances  were  favourable.  Two  teachers,  accompanied 
by  one  of  the  Earotongans,  went  ashore,  and  communicated  to  a  large 
assembly  the  wonders  that  had  been  wrought  at  Tahiti  and  the  other 
islands,  and  told  them  they  had  come  to  instruct  them  in  the  same 
beneficent  truths.  All  said  it  was  well,  and  so  cordial  was  the  wel- 
come they  received  from  a  people  dreaded  as  among  the  most  cruel 
and  debased  in  the  Pacific,  that  all  the  teachers  with  their  wives 
were  lauded,  Mr.  Williams  remaining  on  board  till  the  next  morning. 
Early  in  the  morning  the  company  returned  with  a  sad  tale.  Tlie 
chiefs  were  quite  ready  to  be  taught,  but  claimed  the  wives  of  the 
teachers  to  adorn  their  wretched  harems.  The  women  had  a  narrow 
escape,  not  without  suffering  some  personal  violence,  from  the  brutal 
licentiousness  that  assaulted  them.  With  hopes  quite  cast  down  at  this 
confirmation  of  what  had  been  told  them  of  the  ferocity  and  degra- 
dation of  the  Earotongans,  they  were  about  to  turn  away,  when  one 
of  the  teachers  offered  to  remain  there  alone,  provided  a  coadjutor, 
whom  he  named,  might  be  sent  from  Raiatea.  AVith  nothing  but 
his  clothes  and  books  he  was  landed,  in  company  with  the  natives 
who  had  been  at  Aitutaki,  and  who  now  professed  Christianity. 
The  island  was  visited  about  a  year  after  by  Messrs.  Tyerman  and 
Bennett,  the  deputation  sent  out  by  the  society  to  report  on  their 
missions  in  the  South  Seas.  The  people  had  renounced  idolatry, 
and  were  then  engaged  in  building  a  large  church. 

Laden  with  the  spoils  of  Aitutaki,  her  rejected  gods,  Mr.  Williams 
returned  to  Raiatea,  displayed  his  trophies,  and  narrated  the  triumphs 
they  had  witnesed.  Ilis  zeal  for  the  extension  of  the  work  into 
other  abodes  of  superstition  and  cruelty  was  heightened,  but  just  at 
this  point  his  hopes  received  a  serious  blow.  Commerce  with  New 
South  Wales  was  annihilated,  by  a  prohibitory  duty  laid  on  all  the 
productions  of  the  Leeward  Islands,  at  the  instigation  of  some  mer- 
chants at  Sydney,  whose  prior  monopoly  of  trade  was  infringed  by 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  423 

the  competition  of  men  from  whom  till  lately  the  j  had  feared  nothing. 
All  his  schemes  for  promoting  native  industry  and  enterprise  were 
crushed  at  once.  A  great  motive  for  owning  a  vessel,  that  which 
could  alone  prevent  the  purchase  from  being  a  total  pecuniary  loss, 
was  now  at  an  end.  It  was  laden  with  as  choice  an  assortment  of 
produce  as  could  be  stowed,  and  sent  to  Sydney,  with  orders  to  sell 
vessel  and  cargo  on  the  best  terms  that  could'  be  got.  To  complete 
liis  embarrassment,  the  Directors  of  the  Missionary  Society  censured 
his  proceedings  in  this  matter  as  entangling  himself  with  "the  affairs 
of  this  life"  to  an  unsuitable  degree.  It  was,  to  be  sure,  a  bold 
measure,  but  the  circumstances  of  the  case  required  bold  measures. 
The  missionaries  represented  to  the  society  that  without  a  ship  it 
was  impracticable  to  visit  in  safety  their  outward  stations,  and  of 
course  to  go  to  the  islands  beyond  that  were  otherwise  inaccessible. 
And  unless  this  could  be  done,  Mr.  Williams  could  not  content 
himself  in  the  field  he  occupied.  A  missionary,  he  said,  was  never 
designed  to  gather  a  congregation  of  one  or  two  hundred,  and  si'i 
down  contented,  Avhile  thousands  within  a  few  miles  were  eating 
each  other's  flesh  and  drinking  each  other's  blood.  "For  my  own 
part,  I  cannot  content  myself  within  the  narrow  limits  of  a  single 
reef:  and,  if  means  are  not  afforded,  a  continent  would  to  me  be 
infinitely  preferable;  for  there,  if  you  cannot  ride,  you  can  walk; 
but  to  these  isolated  islands  a  ship  must  carry  you." — "Separately 
considered,  and  compared  with  other  spheres,  no  one  of  these  islands 
is  worthy  of  the  sacrifice  of  life  and  property  devoted  to  it;  but  the 
ivliole  of  them,  considered  collectivel}^,  are  worthy  of  your  utmost 
eiforts."  It  was  further  represented,  that  by  owning  a  ship,  the 
islands  would  be  independent  of  trade  with  ordinary  merchant  ves- 
sels, and  so  be  spared  the  mischiefs,  the  profligacy  and  tumult,  that 
abandoned  foreigners  have  occasioned  at  nearly  every  mission  sta- 
tion in  the  Pacific.  But  his  appeals  were  not  responded  to.  The 
society  could  not  spare  the  sum  necessary  to  purchase  a  vessel,  and 
tliought  an  appeal  to  the  public  at  that  time  unadvisable.  Pie 
therefore  gave  himself  with  fresh  energy  to  his  work  at  Eaiatea. 
The  congregation  was  large;  about  six  hundred  had  solemnly  pro- 
fessed Christianity,  of  whom  nearly  sixty  were  exemplary  communi- 
cants. An  American  vessel,  laden  with  ardent  spirits,  tried  in  vain 
to  sell  or  give  away  any  part  of  the  baleful  cargo. 

But  their  settlement  had  proved  ill-chosen,  exposed  to  furious 
storms  that  laid  waste  their  improvements  continually.    This  circum- 


424  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

Ktance,  with  the  stagnation  of  their  incipient  commerce,  exerted  a 
depressing  effect  on  the  people.  The  missionaries  saw  with  concern 
the  tendency  of  things.  Dreading  a  relapse  into  old  habits  of  indo- 
lence they  were  gratified  at  hearing  a  new  settlement  suggested. 
This  was  carried  into  effect  after  careful  deliberation,  an  excellent 
site  was  chosen  on  the  windward  side  of  the  island,  and  the  hum 
of  busy  industr}^  soon  resounded  along  that  hitherto  deserted  shore. 
Mr.  Williams  was  in  his  element.  The  new  village  was  almost 
as  great  an  advance  on  the  old  as  that  had  been  on  any  thing  before 
known  in  those  regions.  Great  exertion  was  necessary  to  prevent 
the  educational  and  religious  institutions  of  the  community  from 
suffering  under  such  circumstances,  but  they  were  successful ;  every 
thing  went  forward  with  more  than  accustomed  order.  The  auxil- 
iary missionary  society  flourished,  and  what  was  infinitely  better, 
the  number  of  communicants,  admitted  with  the  most  cautious 
fidelity,  increased  to  about  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

In  this  state  of  prosperity,  Mr.  Williams,  on  whom  by  the  depart- 
ure of  his  colleague,  Mr.  Threlkeld,  the  cares  of  the  station  rested, 
most  heartily  rejoiced,  as  a  fullness  of  reward  beyond  his  best 
expectations.  Good  news,  too,  from  Kurutu,  Atiu,  Aitutaki  and 
Rarotonga,  deepened  his  gratitude  and  strengthened  his  conviction 
that  his  designs  for  distant  islands  were  practicable  and  important. 
The  other  missionaries  and  the  deputation  that  had  lately  visited 
them  concurred  in  his  views,  and  the  society  authorized  the  char- 
tering of  a  vessel  for  an  annual  voyage  to  the  distant  stations.  The 
first  voyage  was  made  in  the  autumn  of  1825,  by  his  colleague,  Mr. 
Bourne.  Toward  the  close  of  the  year  he  welcomed  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Pitman,  who  had  been  sent  to  occupy  Rarotonga.  Some  time  elapsed 
before  they  could  complete  their  preparations,  and  then,  in  conse- 
quence of  Mr.  Bourne's  absence,  Mr.  Williams  had  no  one  to  supply 
his  place  at  Raiatea.  But  his  anxiety  to  visit  Rarotonga  overcame 
other  considerations;  leaving  the  congregation  in  charge  of  a  native 
preacher  he  set  out  upon  his  joyful  errand  on  the  26th  of  April,  and 
on  the  5th  of  May  reached  the  desired  haven.  He  was  greeted  by 
a  great  multitude,  who  were  attracted  by  the  news  of  his  arrival. 
They  all  insisted  on  the  privilege  of  saluting  him  in  the  English 
manner  by  shaking  hands.  As  they  considered  "  that  the  sincerity 
of  their  affection  was  to  be  expressed  by  the  severity  of  the  squeeze 
and  the  violence  of  the  shake,"  he  was  in  no  danger  of  forgetting  the 
ceremony,  for  some  hours  at  least. 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  425 

The  people  had  abolished  idolatry,  and  were  attentive  to  instruc- 
tion, but  had  made  comparatively  little  progress.  The  difference 
between  their  language  and  the  Tahitian  was  sufficient  to  impede,  if 
not  to  prevent  free  communication  of  thought,  and  none  had  learned 
to, read.  The  quick  ear  of  Mr.  Williams  soon  detected  the  peculiar- 
ities of  their  dialect.  He  drew  up  an  elementary  work,  and  trans- 
lated some  portions  of  Scripture.  When  these  were  printed,  the 
Rarotongans  proved  as  rapid  learners  as  any  Tahitians.  Here  he 
remained  nearly  a  year,  indefatigable  in  teaching,  taking  the  lead  in 
builduig  and  other  departments  of  useful  industry,  superintending 
the  erection  of  places  of  worship,  rousing  by  every  means  the  ener- 
gies of  all.  His  cheerful,  kind  and  transparently  frank  character 
won  rapidly  on  the  natives.  Their  confidence  in  him  was  unbounded. 
Seldom,  if  ever,  has  one  man  so  rapidly  obtained  the  absolute  sway 
over  a  community  that  Mr.  Williams  wielded  at  this  time  in  Raro- 
tonga.  So  many  demoralizing  usages  prevailed,  that  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  propose  a  reform  in  the  government.  The  Raiatean  code 
was  expounded;  it  met  with  general  approbation,  a  general  assembly 
confirmed  it,  and  it  has  since  been  the  established  constitution. 

But  it  was  impossible  to  forget  Raiatea  or  to  think  of  it  without 
apprehension.  The  news  that  the  man  to  whom  the  oversight  of 
the  congregation  was  committed  had  died,  leaving  the  charge  in  the 
hands  of  a  colleague  far  less  competent,  would  have  hastened  Mr. 
Williams'  departure  if  any  conveyance  could  be  procured.  Vessels 
scarcely  ever  touched  at  this  remote  island,  and  he  was  driven  by 
necessity  to  build  one  himself  The  attempt  was  characteristic.  He 
knew  nothing  of  the  art,  and  had  no  proper  materials  or  implements. 
But  he  was  equal  to  the  task.  A  bellows  was  first  constructed, 
covered  with  goat  skins.  The  rats,  about  as  numerous  as  the  frogs 
that  on  a  time  vexed  the  Egyptians,  soon  made  the  labour  useless. 
As  a  substitute,  he  made  a  couple  of  boxes,  with  a  loaded  piston  in 
each  lifted  by  levers.  A  pipe  and  the  necessary  valves  being 
attached,  it  was  easy  to  keep  up  a  succession  of  blasts  by  working 
the  two  alternately.*  A  stone  anvil  was  erected,  and  the  iron  work 
was  soon  successfully  under  way.  Planks  had  to  be  split  and  hewn 
from  logs,  wooden  pins  supplied  the  place  of  iron  fastenings,  the 
material  for  which  was  scarce.     Cocoa-nut  husk,  native  cloth  and 

*  This  ingenious  contrivance,  though  original,  was  not  new.  Mr.  Williams  after- 
wards found  a  similar  machine  in  operation  in  a  manufacturing  district  of  England. 


426  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

Other  substances  answered  very  well  for  oakum,  and  sails  were  made 
of  native  mats.  Cordage  was  prepared  of  the  bark  of  the  hibiscus, 
and  blocks  turned  from  the  aito,  or  iron-wood,  for  which  processes 
a  rope  machine  and  turning-lathe  had  to  be  set  up.  Under  all  these 
disadvantages,  the  vessel  was  completed  in  fifteen  weeks,  a  craft  of 
seventy  or  eighty  tons,  named  the  "Messenger  of  Peace."  Its  sailing 
qualities  having  been  satisfactorily  tested  in  a  trip  to  Aitutaki,  one 
hundred  and  seventy  miles  distant,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  "Williams  prepared 
to  return  to  their  home.  Before  they  departed,  Mr.  Buzacott  arrived 
as  an  associate  with  Mr.  Pitman  at  Rarotonga,  a  much  needed  and 
valued  reinforcement. 

Great  was  the  curiosity  at  Tahiti  when  the  "Messenger  of  Peace" 
made  its  appearance.  It  was  literally  "a  strange  sail,"  and  excited 
strange  suspicions.  After  a  few  days'  pause,  its  course  was  turned 
towards  Raiatea,  where  the  missionaries  arrived  on  the  twenty-sixth 
of  April,  1828,  after  an  absence  of  just  a  year.  This  exploit  in 
shi23-building,  rivalling  in  its  actual  detail  the  best  contrivances 
imagined  in  Robinson  Crusoe,  excited  so  much  admiration  in  Eng- 
land, and  indeed  was  received  by  many  with  such  incredulity,  that 
Mr.  Williams  was  led  to  insert  in  his  "Missionary  Enterprises,"  a 
full  account  of  the  whole  process.  For  himself,  so  intent  was  he  on 
the  ends  to  be  secured  by  it,  that  the  work,  romantic  as  it  seems  in 
the  description,  hardly  occupied  his  thoughts  after  it  was  completed. 
His  immediate  object  was  to  get  back  to  his  station,  but  he  saw  in 
this  rude  structure  the  means  of  accomplishing  his  long-cherished 
designs  to  carry  the  gospel  to  distant  islands,  "ii^  ship,"  he  writes, 
"is  about  to  convey  Messrs.  Pritchard  and  Simpson  to  the  Marque- 
sas; after  which,  I  purpose  taking  a  thorough  route,  and  carrying  as 
many  teachers  as  I  can  get,  down  through  all  the  Navigators,  Fee- 
jees,  New-Hebrides,  New-Caledonia,  &c.  .  .  .  My  hands,  my  head 
and  my  heart  are  more  full  of  missionary  work  than  ever.  My  grasp 
is  great  and  extensive,  and  the  prospect  of  success  encouraging. 
I'll  get  help  from  my  brethren,  if  I  can ;  if  not,  nothing  shall  deter 
me;  I  will  work  single-handed." 

To  the"  important  enterprise  on  which  his  heart  had  been  so  long 
set,  it  was  not  possible  to  turn  at  once,  but  after  about  two  years 
spent  in  his  customary  employments  at  Raiatea,  he  equipped  his 
vessel,  and  departed  for  the  Samoan,  or  Navigator's  islands.  Thence- 
forth his  settled  conne(3tiou  with  the  Society  Islands  ceased.     He 


JOHN    V/ILLIAMS.  427 

occasionally  came  there,  but  more  as  a  visitor  than  as  an  inhabitant. 
Had  his  missionary  life  closed  here,  it  would  have  been  a  glorious 
one,  Eaiatea  had  been  of  itself  an  enduring  monument  to  his  piety 
and  wisdom.  The  entire  community  had  been  transformed;  brutal 
savages  had  become  intelligent  and  virtuous  men  and  women ;  indus- 
try, peace  and  social  order  had  refreshed  the  desert  long  wasted  by 
malignant  passions;  and  nearly  three  hundred — a  much  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  people  than  in  Christian  America — were  exemplary 
'Christians,  united  in  church-fellowship.  Had  Williams  consulted 
personal  ease  and  enjoyment,  he  could  have  found  the  purest  happi- 
ness in  sitting  down  amid  this  paradise  he  had  planted  and  watered 
through  more  tlian  eleven  years.  But  he  gladly  left  it,  to  convey  the 
same  blessings  to  other  tribes  still  perishing  for  lack  of  knowledge. 
With  several  pious  natives,  set  apart  for  missionary  service,  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Williams  bade  adieu  to  Raiatea,  May  24th,  1830.  Visiting 
the  Hervey  Islands,  they  found  the  stations  in  the  full  tide  of  suc- 
cessful progress,  except  at  Rarotonga,  where  a  pestilence  was  sweep- 
mg  off  multitudes  of  the  people;  yet  it  was  plain  that  their  hearts 
were  steadflist,  and  that  so  soon  as  the  calamity  should  be  overpast 
they  would  press  forward  in  the  way  they  had  entered.  From 
Rarotonga  the  Messenger  of  Peace  visited  Savage  Island,  but  met 
with  so  hostile  a  reception  that  it  was  not  deemed  prudent  to  venture 
on  shore.  They  next  reached  Tongatabu,  one  of  the  Friendly  Isles, 
occupied  by  Wesleyan  missionaries,  with  whom  Mr.  Williams  had  a 
most  pleasant  visit.  As  they  had  decided  to  evangelize  the  Fejee 
Islands,  (where  they  have  since  met  with  the  most  gratifying  suc- 
cess,) he  cheerfully  relinquished  his  designs  for  that  field.  Intelli- 
gence from  the  New  Hebrides  that  the  people,  always  ferocious, 
were  then  particularly  hostile  to  Europeans,  made  it  necessary  to 
postpone  attempts  in  that  quarter.  But  a  chief  from  Samoa  was  at 
Tongatabu,  and  gave  so  friendly  an  invitation  to  the  missionaries, 
that  they  steered  for  that  group,  pausing  at  two  intermediate  islands. 
On  reaching  Savaii,  the  most  important  of  the  Samoan  Isles,  they 
Avere  surprised  at  its  extent.  It  was  larger  than  Tahiti,  and  Mr. 
Williams  became  satisfied,  after  a  more  careful  survey,  that  the 
Samoan  was  the  largest  and  most  populous  group  in  the  Pacific, 
except  the  Sandwich  Islands.  The  death,  just  at  this  time,  of  a  chief 
who  had  exercised  almost  boundless  sway  as  a  political  and  religious 
potentate,  made  the  introduction  of  Christianity  much  easier  than 
it  would  otherv/ise  have  been. 


428  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

The  people  were  generally  not  so  tall  or  strong  as  the  Tahitians, 
and  they  were,  at  first  view,  less  comely,  but  exceedingly  symmet- 
rical and  agile.  They  were  also  milder,  the  politest  people  of  the 
Pacific, — a  distinction  of  which  they  were  conscious  and  notably 
vain.  No  organized  priesthood  existed  to  make  gain  of  their  super- 
stitions, which,  though  gross,  were  less  cruel  and  debasing  than 
those  of  other  islanders.  This  circumstance,  together  with  the 
absence  of  image-worship, — their  devotions  being  offered  exclu- 
sively to  natural  objects, — had  gained  for  them  the  epithet  of  "god- 
less." They  received  the  missionaries  and  teachers  with  the  most 
gratifying  kindness,  and  when  Mr.  Williams  left  them,  after  a  sojourn 
of  three  days,  it  was  with  the  most  triumphant  anticipations  of  suc- 
cess, and  devout  thanksgivings  for  the  beneficent  providence  that 
had  directed  his  way  thither  at  so  propitious  a  season. 

On  once  more  reaching  Raiatea  he  was  compelled  by  the  state  of 
Mrs.  Williams'  health  to  entertain  the  design  of  visiting  England. 
More  favourable  symptoms  obviated  the  necessity  for  the  time,  and 
it  was  a  timely  relief  A  chief  had  succeeded  to  the  government  of 
the  neighbouring  island  of  Tahoa,  who  asserted  some  hereditary 
claims  to  the  lordship  of  Raiatea.  Tamatoa  and  his  people  dreaded 
war,  and  tried  every  means  to  avert  it  short  of  submission.  The 
good  old  king  was  taken  away  before  the  storm  burst.  Chiefs  from 
Tahiti  arrived  to  mediate  between  the  parties,  and  succeeded  in 
making  a  temporary  peace,  during  which  Mr.  Williams  sailed  to 
Rarotonga,  thence  intending  to  visit  Samoa.  While  there,  a  hurri- 
cane desolated  the  settlement,  and  uprooted  so  many  of  the  trees  on 
the  island  that  a  famine  was  apprehended,  and  he  sailed  to  Tahiti  to 
procure  a  supply  of  provisions.  While  there,  he  learned  that  hos- 
tilities had  been  resumed  in  the  Leeward  Islands,  bringing  in  their 
train  all  the  distress  which  is  the  customary  incident  of  war.  Moral 
restraints  had  been  relaxed,  distilleries  had  been  set  up,  and  the  state 
of  Raiatea  had  painfully  retrograded.  He  hastened  to  the  spot; 
some  members  of  the  church,  who  had  dishonoured  their  profession, 
were  excluded,  and  after  considerable  exertion,  order  was  restored. 
As  the  Raiateans  were  the  victors  in  the  war,  a  fair  promise  of  con- 
tinued quiet  was  obtained. 

Returning  to  Rarotonga  with  a  valuable  cargo,  he  remained  only 
long  enough  to  prepare  for  his  expedition  to  Samoa.  The  Mes- 
senger of  Peace  was  under  way  on  the  11th  of  October,  1832,  and 
on  the  17th,  after  a  delightful  sail  of  eight  hundred  miles,  Manua, 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  429 

the  most  easterly  of  the  Samoan  group,  was  visible.  Though  two 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  the  residence  of  the  teachers,  the  peo- 
ple were  professed  Christians,  and  informed  him  that  very  many 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Savaii  and  Upolu,  the  two  largest  islands,  had 
embraced  the  truth.  Such  was  the  fact.  The  teachers  had  strug- 
gled with  the  most  serious  difficulties,  and  overcome  them ;  they  had 
secured  the  confidence  of  several  chiefs,  and  of  the  body  of  their 
people.  Of  course  they  had  communicated  but  little  spiritual 
instruction,  and  their  disciples  had  exceedingly  crude  ideas  of  Chris- 
tianity; but  a  work  was  begun,  which  has  since  proved  among  the 
most  glorious  wrought  in  those  seas. 

After  visiting  two  or  three  other  islands,  the  Messenger  of  Peace 
was  under  sail  for  Earotonga.  A  dangerous  leak  made  it  necessary 
to  put  into  Tongatabu  for  repairs,  and  after  a  detention  of  thirteen 
days  Mr.  Williams  resumed  his  voyage,  reaching  Earotonga  early 
in  January.  Here  he  continued  six  months,  completing  the  transla- 
tion of  the  New-Testament  and  in  evangelical  labour.  A  church 
was  formed,  and  a  pleasing  degree  of  attention  to  personal  religion 
became  visible,  demonstrating  the  presence  of  the  Divine  Spirit. 
In  July  the  Messenger  of  Peace  was  sold,  and  he  went  to  Tahiti  to 
arrange  for  his  visit  to  England.  After  a  short  excursion  to  the 
Leeward  and  the  Hervey  Isles,  he  set  sail,  via  Cape  Horn.  The  voy- 
age was  very  beneficial  to  Mrs.  Williams,  and  on  the  twelfth  of  June, 
1834,  the}^  found  themselves  once  more  in  the  land  of  their  fathers. 

They  left  the  missions  in  an  unpropitious  state,  as  compared  with 
the  bright  promise  of  former  years.  The  efforts  of  men  who  are 
the  disgrace  of  Christian  lands  to  introduce  ardent  spirits  into  the 
islands  had  been  too  successful,  and  the  mission  churches  were  almost 
literally  tried  by  fire.  Not  a  few  had  fallen,  and  though  sobriety 
was  resuming  its  sway,  and  the  walls  of  the  sanctuaries,  broken  by 
the  enemy,  were  once  more  becoming  strong,  yet  the  chequered  pic- 
tures of  alternate  despondency  and  hope,  had  in  England  abated  the 
public  interest  in  the  South  Sea  Missions.  Mr.  Williams  was  little 
known  except  to  the  Directors  of  the  Missionarj^  Society  and  the 
few  more  immediately  concerned  in  their  work,  and  he  came  before 
public  meetings  with  nothing  to  commend  him  in  advance.  But  the 
directors  called  him  out,  and  in  a  series  of  addresses,  delivered  in 
London  and  the  provincial  towns,  he  won  an  extraordinary  popu- 
larity and  excited  an  intense  interest  in  the  mission.  Besides  these 
efforts,  he   conferred  with  the  directors-  on   important  plans   for 


430  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

strengthening  and  extending  tlieir  work  in  the  Pacific.  He  super- 
intended the  printing  of  the  Rarotonga  New-Testament,  and  prepared 
a  number  of  books  and  tracts.  In  the  intervals  of  other  duties,  he 
prepared  his  Narrative  of  Missionary  Enterprises,  a  work  which  was 
received  with  unprecedented  favour  by  the  public.  About  thirty- 
eight  thousand  copies  were  disposed  of  in  five  years,  besides  editions 
in  this  and  other  countries,  and  it  is  still  a  book  of  standard  value. 
By  presenting  copies  to  members  of  the  roj^al  family  and  some  of  the 
more  distinguished  nobility  and  gentry,  many  handsome  donations 
were  received,  and  an  unwonted  interest  in  his  efforts  was  excited 
in  circles  to  which  the  claims  of  missions  had  seldom  penetrated. 

Encouraged  by  these  favourable  indications,  he  made  a  fresh  effort 
to  procure  a  missionary  ship.  Believing  that  the  commercial  public 
were  deeply  interested  in  the  enterprise  on  which  his  heart  was  set, 
he  ventured  to  apply  to  the  admiralty  for  the  grant  of  a  vessel. 
This  was  declined,  for  reasons  which  would  have  spontaneously 
suggested  themselves  to  any  man  less  ardent  than  Mr.  Williams, 
and  which  he  was  not  dull  in  appreciating  when  they  were  offered, 
lie  next  made  an  appeal  to  the  public  liberality,  with  the  most  com- 
plete success.  In  no  long  time,  enough  was  contributed  to  pui'chaso 
and  equip  a  vessel  amply  sufficient  for  the  service.  The  fate  of  his 
application  to  the  admirality  did  not  prevent  him  from  trying  his 
powers  of  suasion  on  the  Lord  Mayor  and  Corporation  of  London, 
with  such  effect  that  five  hundred  pounds  were  voted  in  aid  of  his 
object. 

The  health  of  Mrs.  Williams,  which  had  continued  to  be  feeble, 
and  long  threatened  to  form  an  insuperable  barrier  to  her  husband's 
return,  at  length  recovered  its  usual  tone.  His  mind  was  now  at 
rest.  The  "Camden,"  his  "missionary  ship,"  was  fitted  for  sea,  a 
large  edition  of  the  Rarotonga  Testament  and  other  books  had  been 
printed,  several  new  missionaries  were  ready  to  accompany  him, 
among  them  his  eldest  son,  who  was  designated  for  Samoa,  and 
he  joj'fully  made  ready  to  renew  his  delightful  toils.  The  great 
interest  felt  for  him,  was  manifest  by  the  eager  liberality  with 
which  gifts  of  all  kinds  were  lavished  upon  him.  Every  article  of 
comfort  and  even  of  luxury,  suited  to  a  long  voyage,  was  freely 
contributed.  Rich  and  poor  vied  with  each  other  in  the  labour  of 
love.  The  ship-builder  who  repaired  the  Camden  declined  all  com- 
pensation for  work  worth  four  hundred  pounds.  A  pious  man,  who 
earned  his  living  by  furnishing  ships  with  filtered  water,  carried  off 


JOHN"    WILLIAMS.  431 

twenty  tons  to  tlie  Camden,  as  lie  said,  for  "tlie  pleasure  of  giving 
a  cup  of  cold  water."  A  pilot  applied  for  the  privilege  of  taking 
the  vessel  out  to  sea  gratuitously,  a  service  for  which  he  was  enti- 
tled to  not  less  than  twenty  pounds.  The  11th  of  April,  1838,  was 
fixed  for  the  day  of  departure.  On  the  1th,  valedictory  services 
w^ere  held  at  the  Tabernacle,  Moorfields,  where  Mr.  Williams  and 
his  brethren  addressed  a  vast  assembly.  As  if  with  a  prophetic 
vision  of  what  awaited  him,  he  spoke  of  the  dangers  to  which  he 
might  be  exposed  from  the  ferocity  of  savages.  Alluding  to  a  cele- 
brated actor,  who  assigned  as  a  reason  for  retiring  that  he  felt  there 
must  be  a  gap  between  the  stage  and  death,  he  remarked:  "Now 
the  missionary  wants  no  gap  between  his  work  and  his  death:  there- 
fore, should  God  call  us  to  suffer  in  his  cause,  we  trust  that  we  shall 
have  grace  to  bow  with  submission  to  his  will,  knowing  that  others 
will  be  raised  up  in  his  providence  to  carry  into  effect  that  work 
which  we  have  been  employed  to  commence." 

On  the  evening  of  the  8th,  he  united  with  his  associates  in  the 
solemn  commemoration  of  the  Lord's  death,  at  Barbican  chapel,  and. 
on  the  next  day,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  the  Society,  they  were 
solemnly  committed  to  the  divine  protection.  Two  days  after,  in 
the  presence  of  an  immense  multitude  that  thronged  the  wharves 
and  the  eastern  parapet  of  London  Bridge,  the  missionary  company, 
having  parted  from  their  near  friends,  bade  farewell  to  England. 
Mr.  Williams  was  nearly  overcome  by  the  first  separation,  but  when 
he  boarded  the  steamer  that  was  to  convey  him  to  the  Camden,  his 
usual  cheerfulness  seemed  to  return.  One  more  bitter  sorrow  awaited 
him,  the  separation  from  his  youngest  son,  who  accompanied  him  to 
the  vessel ;  bat  this  past,  his  spirits  rose  with  elastic  energ3^  He 
was  not  without  apprehension  as  to  the  future,  and  he  felt  the 
responsibility  that  attached  to  his  mission,  but  these  shadows  only 
temporarily  dimmed  his  vision.  Three  days  after  they  weighed 
anchor,  unfavourable  winds  compelled  the  captain  to  seek  shelter  in 
Dartmouth  roads.  It  being  Sunday,  Mr.  Williams  went  on  shore, 
and  preached  for  Rev.  Mr.  Stenner,  who,  with  his  people,  was 
delighted  at  his  unexpected  appearance.  The  missionaries  were 
detained  here  till  the  morning  of  the  19th,  when  Mr.  Williams  took 
his  last  look  of  England,  During  the  voyage,  the  new  missionaries 
w^ere  busily  engaged  in  studying  the  Tahitian  and  Rarotongan  lan- 
guages, and  on  the  3d  of  May,  a  church  was  organized,  composed  of 
the  missionaries,  the  pious  captain  and  mate,  and  several  of  the  crew, 


432  JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

In  all  twenty-six  persons,  who  united  in  the  communion-service  with 
great  interest  and  solemnity.  At  Capetown,  where  they  remained 
nearl}'-  three  weeks,  they  found  much  to  enjoy  in  the  society  of  Dr. 
Philip  and  his  associate  in  that  mission.  At  Sydney  they  received 
tidings  of  the  most  cheering  character  from  the  South  Seas;  and 
these  were  confirmed  when,  on  the  23d  of  November,  they  arrived 
in  the  harbour  of  Pangopango,  at  the  island  of  Tutuila,  one  of 
the  Samoan  group.  Most  of  the  people  had  renounced  heathen- 
ism. Of  the  entire  population  of  the  group,  estimated  at  sixty  or 
seventy  thousand,  nearly  fifty  thousand  were  under  instruction. 
Wars  had  ceased,  immense  numbers  had  learned  to  read,  family  and 
public  worship  were  generally  observed.  Mr.  Williams  fixed  his 
residence  among  them,  on  the  island  of  Opnlu.  After  a  season  spent 
in  active  labour,  he  left  Mrs.  Williams  at  their  new  home,  and  pro- 
ceeded to  Rarotonga,  to  convey  the  five  thousand  Testaments  he  had 
brought  with  him.  The  books  were  received  with  unutterable  joy, 
and  eagerly  purchased.  A  school  was  established  for  the  education 
of  native  preachers.  He  next  visited  Tahiti,  and  other  islands, 
arriving  at  his  Samoan  home  in  the  following  May.  Here  he  con- 
tinued six  months,  abundant  in  spiritual  labours.  A  church  was 
organized,  and  the  first  hopeful  converts  of  this  interesting  mission 
united  in  the  Lord's  Supper. 

November  3d,  1839,  was  the  last  Sabbath  Mr.  Williams  spent  at 
Samoa.  He  was  going  forth  with  a  company  of  native  teachers  to 
plant  the  standard  of  the  cross  in  regions  where  it  had  been  unknown. 
Though  no  presentiment  of  the  fatal  result  appears  to  have  been  dis- 
tinctly present  to  his  mind,  an  unusual  melancholy  seemed  to  rest 
on  his  spirits.  This  was  in  part  due  to  anxiety  concerning  the  issue 
of  his  enterprise.  Formerly,  when  the  work  was  new,  and  prose- 
cuted, on  his  own  responsibility,  with  slight  encouragement,  his 
spirits  were  buoyant.  But  his  previous  successes  and  the  admira- 
tion they  had  excited  in  England,  the  knowledge  that  high  expecta- 
tions were  formed  of  him,  and  a  consciousness  of  his  personal 
inadequacy,  weighed  upon  his  mind  with  painful  force.  But  he 
was  also — and  it  seemed  afterwards  a  very  memorable  thing — much 
occupied  with  thoughts  of  the  frailty  of  life.  His  frequent  allusions 
to  this  theme  were  noticed  by  his  friends.  The  last  sermon  he 
delivered  was  from  Acts  xx.  36-38.  So  tenderly  did  he  dwell  on 
the  expression,  ^''sorrowmg  'most  of  all  for  the  words  luhich  he  spake, 
that  they  should  see  his  face  no  more^'' — that  the  congregation  wept 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  433 

without  restraint,  and  for  a  considerable  time  nothing  but  sighs  and 
sobs  were  heard  throughout  the  assembly. 

Two  days  after,  the  Camden  commenced  her  voyage,  ]  They 
touched  at  Rotuma  with  the  view  of  landing  some  teachers  there, 
but  the  cool  and  suspicious  behaviour  of  the  chiefs  repelled  them ; 
two  finally  remained  at  the  urgent  entreaty  of  a  subordinate  chief, 
and  the  company  proceeded  to  the  New-Hebrides.  On  the  17th  of 
November  they  reached  Fatuma,  and  had  such  communications 
with  the  people  as  encouraged  the  hope  that  they  would  welcome 
missionaries,  should  they  be  sent.  On  the  18th  they  made  the 
island  of  Tanna,  where  two  teachers  were  kindly  received,  and  con- 
cluded to  settle.  The  next  day  they  reached  Erromanga  just  at 
evening.  Mr.  Williams  spent  a  sleepless  night.  His  survey  of  the 
important  islands  thus  far  visited,  had  strongly  impressed  him  with 
their  importance  as  a  missionary  field,  and  he  was  full  of  anxiety 
as  to  the  issue  of  his  present  attempt  to  evangelize  them.  On  the 
morning  of  the  20th  he  landed,  and  attempted  to  converse  with  the 
natives,  but  their  language  was  unintelligible.  He  made  them  pres- 
ents, and  thought  they  appeared  friendly.  In  company  with  Mr. 
Harris,  a  gentleman  on  his  way  to  England  with  a  view  to  future 
missionary  service,  and  Mr.  Cunningham,  he  went  for  a  little  dis- 
tance out  of  sight  of  his  companions,  who  remained  in  the  boat.  A 
moment  after,  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Cunningham  appeared  run- 
ning, pursued  by  several  natives.  Mr.  Cunningham  escaped.  Mr. 
Williams  reached  the  water's  edge,  when  he  was  knocked  down 
with  a  club, — another  person  stabbed  him  with  several  arrows. 
Every  attempt  to  save  at  least  his  murdered  body  was  ineffectual. 
His  remains  were  dragged  inland;  the  murderous  crowd  that 
thronged  the  beach  was  too  numerous  to  be  dared  by  the  crew  of 
the  Camden.  ]  The  captain  immediately  sailed  to  New  South  Wales, 
and  a  vessel  of  war  was  at  once  despatched  to  secure  the  remains 
of  Mr.  Harris  and  of  the  martyred  missionary.  )  The  wretched 
Erromangans  confessed  that  they  had  eaten  the  bodies,  and  that 
only  the  skulls  and  some  of  the  bones  were  left.  These  were  gath- 
ered up,  and  borne  to  Opulu.  The  tidings  reached  Mrs.  Williams  at 
midnight,  with  what  effect  words  cannot  describe.  But  the  calam- 
ity, the  grief,  were  shared  by  multitudes.  The  people  were  roused 
from  their  beds,  and  in  the  morning  twilight  gathered  in  groups, 
listening  to  the  tragic  tale.  A  general  cry  of  lamentation  resounded 
throughout  Samoa.  At  Rarotonga,  Tahiti,  and  the  other  islands, 
28 


4:34:  JOHX    WILLIAMS 

the  intelligence  called  forth  similar  demonstrations  of  grief.  And 
throughout  Christendom,  wherever  the  storj  of  his  life  had  gone, 
the  story  of  his  untimely  and  cruel  fate  caused  many  a  heart  to  swell 
with  unutterable  sorrow  at  thoughts  of  the  Martyr  of  Erromanga.  I 

Did  the  limits  of  this  work  admit  of  a  narrative  sufficiently 
extended  to  bring  more  intimately  and  particularly  the  varioiis 
incidents  of  Mr.  Williams'  life  before  the  reader's  eye,  we  might  be 
spared  the  effort  at  a  formal  delineation  of  his  character.  In  few 
words,  with  the  ample  aids  furnished  by  the  full  memorials  left 
from  his  own  pen,  and  the  grateful  testimonials  of  friendship,  we 
may  note  some  of  his  most  striking  peculiarities.  Physically,  he 
was  built  on  a  large  scale,  robust,  and  capable  of  energetic  and  sus- 
tained exertion.  His  countenance  was  at  first  view  wanting  in 
mobility  and  expressiveness,  but  the  impression  vanished  when  it 
was  lighted  up  by  the  fire  of  his  ever-cheerful,  quick,  and  sympa- 
thetic spirit.  His  mind  was  not  specially  distinguished  for  depth  or 
subtlety,  neither  was  he  endowed  with  much  imaginative  power. 
He  could  never  have  been  a  poet,  though  he  wrote  verses  in  his 
youth, — nor  a  distinguished  theologian,  skilled  in  fine  distinctions 
and  sharp  logic, — nor  a  philosopher,  piercing  through  the  deeps  of 
abstract  speculation,  to  take  hold  on  the  elements  of  being.  But  he 
had  uncommon  quickness  and  justness  of  observation,  a  retentive 
memor}^,  sound  judgment,  great  fertility  of  resource.  He  was  in 
all  points  a  man  of  action.  His  plans  were  broad,  but  never  too 
extended  to  be  grasped  in  their  detail.  Though  he  looked  far,  his 
eye  took  in  every  intervening  object.  Hence,  though  the  defects 
just  alluded  to  caused  him  to  fail  when  he  wandered  from  his  appro- 
priate sphere  to  more  speculative  pursuits,  he  seldom  made  the  mis- 
take, and  seldom  erred  in  his  judgment. 

His  temperament  was  warm,  and  his  affections  ardent.  He  was 
whole-hearted.  With  quick  susceptibilities  and  much  tenderness, 
the  prevailing  sentiment  of  his  life  was  hopeful  and  even  sanguine. 
Entering  into  all  his  plans  with  ardour,  concentrating  his  utmost 
energy  upon  them,  he  never  feared  failure,  or  permitted  any  obstacles 
to  shake  his  purposes.  These  traits  were  consecrated  by  fervent 
piety  to  make  him  the  instrument  of  untold  benefits  to  mankind. 
His  piety  manifested  itself  in  harmony  with  his  mental  character- 
istics;'— a  sure  proof  of  its  genuineness,  as  something  not  imposed, 
but  implanted;  not  cramping  and  clipping  the  developments  of  his 


JOHN    WILLIAMS.  435 

nature  in  the  manner  that  a  now  defunct  class  of  landscape  gardeners 
tortured  trees  into  fantastic  shapes,  but  nourishing  continually  fresh 
growths  that  rose  in  forms  of  spontaneous  beauty.  It  was  a  cheer- 
ful, manly,  practical  piety,  void  of  sentimentalism  and  morbid  mel- 
ancholy. He  kept  no  diary  to  perpetuate  his  moods  and  humours, 
■ — and  his  defective  analytical  power  would  have  made  a  private 
journal  from  his  pen  little  else  than  this.  Strong,  introspective,  and 
thoroughly  disciplined  intellects,  may  preserve  such  autobiographi- 
cal records  with  much  profit  to  themselves  and  to  others,  but  he 
could  never  bring  himself  down  from  the  post  of  observation,  or 
withdraw  from  the  field  of  action,  merely  to  study  and  dissect  him- 
self. Yet  he  was  eminently  devout,  much  in  prayer  and  study  of 
the  Scriptures.  His  faith  in  God  was  humble,  self-abasing,  and 
always  firm.  He  indulged  no  doubts  about  his  own  personal  accept- 
ance. That  matter  was  settled  once  for  all,  and  his  affections  and 
purposes  were  fixed  with  such  disinterested  ardour  on  worJcs  of  faith 
and  labours  of  love,  that  he  was  never  inclined  to  withdraw  into 
himself  in  the  indulgence  of  fears  and  doubts.  From  the  day  of 
his  conversion  to  that  morning  when  he  was  "offered,"  he  went 
ever  onward,  subordinating  all  things  to  the  Divine  Glory,  trusting 
himself  to  the  guidance  of  Divine  Providence,  seeking  not  his  own. 
He  had  his  afflictions,  sharp  to  unaided  nature,  but  to  his  faith,  light 
in  comparison  with  the  glory  to  be  revealed,  for  which  he  patiently 
waited.  As  a  missionary,  the  works  he  did  testify  of  him.  They 
do  follow  him  in  a  procession  that  reaches  into  eternity.  How 
clearly  he  saw  the  necessities  of  the  field  to  which  he  was  sent, 
with  what  practical  wisdom  he  planned  his  enterprises,  and  with 
what  directness,  force,  and  indomitable  perseverance  he  executed 
them,  has  been  seen,  in  a  measure,  as  we  have  followed  him  from 
island  to  island,  preaching,  teaching,  exciting,  restraining,  ready  to 
embrace  every  occasion,  to  employ  every  lawful  means,  and  to  suf- 
fer any  required  self-denial,  to  make  the  objects  of  his  compassion 
better  and  happier.  He  had  a  more  than  common  reward  on  earth, 
and  laid  up  a  vast  and  enduring  treasure  in  heaven. 


WILLIAM    RICHARDS. 


William  Richards  was  born  at  Plainfield,  Massachusetts,  August 
22,  1793.  His  parents  were  not  in  affluent  circumstances,  but  they 
were  able  to  give  their  children  a  treasure  of  pious  instruction, 
enriched  by  a  corresponding  example.  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  "Wil- 
liam became  the  subject  of  renewing  grace,  and  three  years  after 
united  with  the  church  in  his  native  town.  The  thought  of  becom- 
ing a  minister  of  the  gospel  and  a  missionary,  became  fixed  in  his 
mind  very  soon  after  the  dawning  of  his  Christian  hope.  At  that 
time,  his  eldest  brother,  James  Richards,  so  honourably  known  to 
the  Christian  public  as  one  of  the  little  band  whose  prayers  and 
counsels  led  to  the  formation  of  the  American  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  was  near  the  close  of  his  college  course.  Near  the  time 
of  his  graduation,  he  disclosed  to  William  his  intention  to  be  a  mis- 
sionary, awaking  in  his  younger  brother  a  desire  to  follow  in  his 
footsteps.  It  was  not,  indeed,  a  settled  purpose,  but  he  could  not 
forget  it.  While  engaged  in  labour,  he  felt  as  if  it  would  be  a 
pleasure  to  live  for  the  conversion  of  the  world  as  his  direct  pursuit. 
The  way  was  at  length  opened ;  he  pursued  his  preparatory  studies 
under  his  pastor.  Rev.  Moses  Hallock,  and  entered  Williams  College 
in  1815.*  After  graduating,  he  pursued  his  theological  studies  in 
the  seminary  at  Andover. 

Previous  to  the  close  of  his  theological  studies,  he  had  definitely 
decided  to  go  to  the  heathen,  and  as  it  was  in  contemplation  to 

^  The  "mountain  towns,"  as  they  are  called,  of  Hampshire,  (the  old  county  of 
that  name,  from  which  the  counties  of  Hampden  and  Franklin  have  been  separ- 
ated,) it  is  believed,  have  furnished  to  the  professions,  and  particularly  to  the  minis- 
try, a  larger  number  of  young  men  than  almost  any  section  of  the  country,  in 
proportion  to  their  population.  Perhaps  New-Hampshire  may  dispute  the  claim. 
Those  elevated  and  comparatively  rude  regions  of  New-England  suggest  the  descrip- 
tion of  ancient  Numidia,  arida  nutrix  leonum.  In  defect  of  academical  institutions, 
the  pastors  of  churches  did  much  to  prepare  young  men  for  college,  and  in  this  way 
trained  up  not  a  few  of  their  youthful  parishioners  for  usefulness  in  the  church  and 
the  world. 


i38  WILLIAM    RICHARDS. 

reinforce  tlie  mission  to  tlie  SandwicTi  Islands,  whicli  had  been  com- 
menced two  years  before,  lie  offered  himself,  on  the  2d  of  Febru- 
ary, 1822,  to  the  American  Board  for  that  service,  as  one  for  which 
he  judged  himself  more  especially  fitted.  The  offer  was  accepted, 
lie  received  ordination  on  the  12th  of  September,  was  married  in 
the  following  month,  and  embarked  at  New-Haven  on  the  19th  of 
November,  in  company  with  two  other  ordained  missionaries,  a 
physician,  three  assistant  missionaries,  and  four  pious  islanders  who 
had  been  receiving  instruction  in  this  country.  On  the  evening 
preceding,  Mr.  Eichards  preached  an  appropriate  sermon  from  Isa. 
Ix.  9:  "Surely  the  isles  shall  wait  for  me."  After  hearing  the  part- 
ing instructions  of  the  Board,  the  missionaries,  with  more  than  six 
hundred  of  their  fellow-Christians,  participated  in  the  communion 
service.  A  great  company  of  spectators  thronged  the  wharf  at 
which  they  embarked.     The  hymn, 

"Wake,  isles  of  the  south!  your  redemption  is  near," 

written  for  the  occasion  by  William  B.  Tappan,  was  sung  with  thrill- 
ing effect;  the  missionary  band  were  commended  in  prayer  to 
Him  who  "rides  on  the  whirlwind,"  and  took  their  departure  for 
their  island-home.  The  voyage  was  pleasant,  their  relations  with 
the  officers  and  crew  entirely  harmonious.  A  Bible  class  for  the 
sailors  was  organized  in  connection  with  their  Sunday  services. 
Several  of  the  crew  were  remarkably  serious  and  attentive  to  the 
instructions  they  received,  and  some  appeared  to  have  received 
saving  benefits,  though  not  all  maintained  their  steadfastness  after 
reaching  port. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  1823,  they  descried  Hawaii.  A  boat  was 
sent  on  shore  the  next  morning  to  make  inquiries,  and  several 
natives  came  off  to  see  the  missionaries,  with  whom  they  seemed 
much  pleased.  The  vessel  proceeded  to  Oahu,  and  on  Sunday,  the 
27th,  came  to  anchor  off  Honolulu,  where  the  company  received  a 
joyflil  welcome  from  their  associates  and  from  several  chiefs.  The 
only  regret  expressed  was,  that  there  were  not  more  of  them.  In 
the  distribution  of  the  new  labourers,  Mr.  Eichards  and  Eev.  C.  S. 
Stewart  were  assigned  to  the  station  of  Lahaina,  on  the  island  of 
Maui,  where  they  took  up  their  residence  in  May.  "  We  are  liv- 
ing," Mr.  Richards  writes,  "in  houses  built  by  the  heathen  and  pre- 
sented to  us.  They  are  built  in  native  style,  and  consist  of  posts 
driven  into  the  ground,  on  which  small  poles  are  tied  horizontally, 


WILLIAM    RICHARDS,  439 

and  tlien  long  grass  is  fastened  to  the  poles  by  strings  wliicli  pass 
round  each  bundle.  "We  have  no  floors,  and  no  windows  except 
holes  cut  through  the  thatching,  which  are  closed  by  shutters  without 
glass."  These  arrangements  of  course  were  temporary.  "The  field 
for  usefulness  here  is  great;  and  I  have  never,  for  a  moment  since 
I  arrived,  had  a  single  fear  that  my  usefulness  on  these  islands  will 
be  limited  by  any  thing  but  my  own  imperfections.  If  I  can  bo 
useful  anywhere,  I  can  be  useful  in  Lahaina.  Our  work  is, 
indeed,  a  pleasant  one.  I  envy  no  one  his  employment,  though  he 
may  be  surrounded  with  a  thousand  temporal  comforts  of  which  I 
am  deprived.  It  is  enough  for  me,  that  in  looking  back  I  can  see 
clearly  that  the  finger  of  Providence  pointed  me  to  these  islands; 
and  that  in  looking  forward,  I  see  some  prospect  of  success  and  of  last- 
ing usefulness.  All  my  anxiety  arises  from  the  fear  that  the  whiten- 
ing harvest  will  not  be  gathered.  Thousands,  indeed  I  may  say, 
nearly  every  adult  on  the  Sandwich  Islands,  is  waiting  to  receive 
instruction,  and  many  are  waiting  with  high  hopes." 

The  state  of  the  people,  as  mentioned  by  Mr.  Eichards,  was 
indeed  most  encouraging,  and  in  connection  with  the  remarkable 
events  that  preceded  the  establishment  of  the  mission,  can  never 
cease  to  be  regarded  as  a  most  providential  invitation  to  the  churches 
of  America.  From  their  first  discovery  by  Captain  Cook,  in  1778, 
the  importance  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  was  clearly  perceived.  The 
largest  and  most  populous  group  in  Polynesia,  and  occupying  a 
convenient  position  to  be  visited  by  whaling  vessels  and  ships 
engaged  in  the  China  trade,  American  merchants  began  to  reside 
there  as  early  as  the  year  1786.  The  islands  are  of  volcanic  form- 
ation, composed  of  rocky  and  barren  mountains,  some  rising  fifteen 
thousand  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  separated  b}^  frightful 
chasms,  but  with  valleys  of  great  fertility,  and  enjoying  an  agreeable 
climate.  The  inhabitants  are  of  the  same  race  with  those  of  the  Soci- 
ety and  most  of  the  other  islands  that  lie  east  of  the  one  hundred  and 
eightieth  degree  of  longitude.  The  body  of  the  people  were  held  in 
absolute  subjection  to  the  king  and  chiefs,  and  more  sadly  enslaved  by 
a  cruel  and  debasing  superstition.  War,  infanticide,  human  sacrifices, 
polygamy,  and  the  most  revolting  licentiousness  were  hastening  the 
process  of  depopulation,  aided  by  vices  greedily  received  from  for- 
eigners. The  whole  nation,  indeed,  had  so  far  physically  degener- 
ated, that  they  have  not  yet  recovered,  and  the  possibilit}^  of  saving 
them  from  entire  extinction  is  doubted.     That  they  have  not  been 


4i0  WILLIAM    RICHARDS. 

still  more  degraded,  and  even  blotted  out  of  existence,  must  be  attri- 
buted to  the  timely  introduction  of  Christianity. 

The  way  for  the  missionaries  was  prepared  before  them.  Kame- 
hameha,  a  chief  of  uncommon  capacity,  had  made  himself  the  abso^ 
lute  monarch  of  all  the  islands.  He  was  ready  and  showed  himself 
able  to  avail  himself  of  the  advantages  to  be  derived  from  inter- 
course with  civilized  nations.  He  raised  and  drilled  an  army  in 
the  European  fashion,  supplied  them  with  fire-arms,  built  forts  and 
mounted  cannon,  and  created  something  of  a  navy.  The  keel  of 
his  first  ship  was  laid  by  Captain  Vancouver  in  1792.  In  a  few 
years  his  fleet  amounted  to  twenty  vessels;  he  grew  rich  by  com- 
merce, and  encouraged  the  mechanic  arts.  Several  of  the  chiefs 
acquired  a  knowledge  of  the  English  language.  But  the  uncon- 
trolled despotism  of  the  government  and  superstition  of  the  people 
made  it  impossible  for  the  mass  to  rise.  Soon  there  came  tidings 
of  wonderful  changes  wrought  in  Tahiti  by  a  new  religion.  Henry 
Obookiah  and  others  had  gone  to  the  United  States,  and  received  a 
Christian  education ;  the  fact  was  interesting,  and  caused  some  spec- 
ulation. But  Kamahameha  was  high-pi'iest  as  well  as  king,  and 
while  he  upheld  idolatry,  nothing  could  be  done.  He  died  in  1819, 
about  seventy  years  of  age.  On  his  death-bed,  he  desired  an 
American  present  to  tell  him  of  the  Bible  and  of  the  Christian's 
God,  but  received  no  response,  and  died  in  ignorance  of  the  truth. 
His  son  Rihoriho,  who  succeeded  him,  after  consulting  with  the 
chiefs,  abolished  their  whole  system  of  superstition.  The  maraes 
or  sacred  enclosures,  with  the  idols  they  contained,  were  burned, 
and  an  earnest  desire  was  expressed  for  the  arrival  of  missionaries. 

These  were  on  their  way.  The  first  company  sailed  less  than  a 
month  before  from  Boston.  They  arrived  in  March,  1820,  and 
were  met  with  intelligence  that  the  idols  were  utterly  abolished. 
There  remained,  indeed,  ignorance  and  depravity,  the  consumma- 
tion of  centuries  of  darkness,  to  resist  their  efforts  and  put  their 
faith  to  a  severe  test,  but  they  were  hospitably  received,  and  the 
utmost  readiness  was  shown  to  receive  instruction  and  forward  all 
the  interests  of  the  mission.  The  king  and  chiefs  were  the  first 
pupils,  and  though  his  majesty  was  a  somewhat  unsteady  scholar 
and  capricious  patron,  the  progress  of  improvement  was  visible  and 
decided,  so  much  so  as  to  excite  at  a  very  early  period  the  hostility 
of  profligate  foreigners,  whose  opportunities  for  vicious  indulgence 
were  sensibly  diminished  under  the  new  order  of  things.     By  the 


WILLIAM    RICHARDS.  4.41 

establishment  of  a  printing-press  education  went  rapidly  forward, 
and  the  people  began  to  gain  clearer  ideas  of  the  nature  of  true 
religion.  Some  were  serious,  and  a  few  gave  indications  of  piety, 
slight,  indeed,  but,  as  afterwards  appeared,  real.  The  king,  by  the 
influence  of  foreign  residents,  was  kept  from  the  full  influence  of 
the  truth,  prevailed  on  to  absent  himself  from  public  worship,  and 
even  led  into  intoxication,  notwithstanding  his  repeated  determina- 
tion to  reform.  He  visited  England  in  the  autumn  of  1823,  and 
died  in  the  following  July.  Though  in  a  Christian  land,  he  had 
little  intercourse  with  religious  people.  The  men  who  had  so  stren- 
uously resisted  all  efforts  to  enlighten  his  conscience  gained  their 
end;  he  died,  in  every  thing  but  the  name,  a  heathen. 

Mr.  Richards  addressed  himself  to  his  duties  at  Lahaina  with  zeal, 
from  his  first  arrival.  Although  he  had  not  acquired  the  language 
so  as  to  converse  intelligibly  in  it,  he  was  able  to  commence  teach- 
ing at  once,  as  it  was  easy,  the  alphabet  once  learned,  to  read 
mechanically  with  perfect  accurac}^,  and  he  had  a  number  of  pupils. 
As  soon  as  he  was  able  to  preach,  he  found  "the  hearing  ear,"  and 
had  not  to  wait  long  for  "the  understanding  heart."  In  the  spring 
of  1825,  a  remarkable  spirit  of  religious  concern  was  manifested. 
It  began  among  the  women,  for  whose  benefit  a  female  prayer-meet- 
ing was  instituted  with  the  happiest  effect.  But  soon  there  were 
men  so  anxious  to  learn  the  way  of  life,  that  on  more  than  one 
occasion  Mr.  Richards  was  awaked  in  the  night  to  answer  their 
pressing  inquiries.  Under  date  of  April  19th,  he  writes:  "As  I 
was  walking  this  evening,  I  heard  the  voice  of  prayer  in  six  differ- 
ent houses,  in  the  course  of  a  few  rods.  I  think  there  are  now  not 
less  than  fifty  houses  in  Lahaina,  where  the  morning  and  eveninr^ 
sacrifice  is  regularly  offered  to  the  true  God.  The  number  is  con- 
stantly increasing,  and  there  is  now  scarcely  an  hour  in  the  day 
that  I  am  not  interrupted  in  my  regular  employment,  by  calls  of 
persons  anxious  to  know  what  they  may  do  to  be  saved."  Several 
places  of  worship  were  erected,  and  about  eight  hundred  persons 
were  under  instruction  in  schools  in  the  different  parts  of  the  island. 
A  similar  state  of  things  existed  at  the  other  stations. 

It  was  impossible  Jhat  so  great  a  change  could  take  place  with- 
out stirring  up  a  spirit  of  resistance,  and  it  is  a  dismal  feature  of 
Polynesian  missions,  that  the  most  despei'ate  resistance  to  the  pro- 
gress of  righteousness    has  come  uniformly  from  the  natives   of 


442  WILLIAM    EICHARDS. 

Christian  lands.  The  leader  on  this  occasion  was  Captain  Buckle, 
of  the  English  whale-ship  Daniel.  An  order  had  been  promulgated 
by  the  chiefs,  forbidding  women  to  visit  ships  in  the  harbour.  This 
embargo  upon  licentiousness  was  more  than  the  seamen  would  bear. 
The  crew  of  the  Daniel,  to  the  number  of  thirty  or  forty,  came  on 
shore  armed,  and  threatened  the  lives  of  the  missionaries.  It  was 
found  necessary  to  surround  Mr.  Richards'  house  with  a  guard.  The 
same  outrages  were  perpetrated  at  Honolulu,  under  the  lead  of 
Captain  Buckle,  by  both  English  and  American  sailors.  The  chiefs 
however,  were  firm. 

The  next  3'ear  similar  assaults  on  the  laws  and  morals  of  the 
islands  were  committed  at  Lahaina.  At  Honolulu,  through  the  vio- 
lence of  Lieutenant  Percival,  of  the  United  States'  armed  schooner 
Dolphin,  countenanced  by  the  British  and  American  consuls,  the 
lives  of  the  missionaries  were  placed  in  imminent  peril,  much  prop- 
erty was  destro3'ed,  and  the  chiefs  were  intimidated  into  a  relaxation 
of  the  law.  Vice  made  fearful  inroads,  and  in  four  months,  mis- 
chief was  done  that  required  long  and  painful  efforts  to  repair. 
Complaint  was  made  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  and  Lieutenant 
Percival  was  made  to  answer  for  his  conduct  before  a  court  of  inquiry. 
The  result  of  the  investigation  was  never  published,  a  sufficient 
proof  that  he  did  not  succeed  in  vindicating  his  conduct. 

During  the  pendency  of  these  violent  proceedings  the  condition 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richards  was  particularly  perilous.  They  \vere 
alone  with  the  natives,  and  dependant  on  them  for  protection.  The 
masters  of  American  vessels  would  do  nothing  in  his  support,  while 
Captain  Buckle  encouraged  his  men,  and  offered  them  arms  with 
which  to  enforce  their  evil  designs.  Mrs,  Richards  had  been  for 
several  days  too  ill  to  leave  their  house,  but  she  was  not  moved  by 
the  threats  of  those  who  first  came  to  demand  the  repeal  of  the  laws 
against  prostitution.  "I  am  feeble,"  she  said,  "and  have  none  to 
lc»ok  to  for  protection  but  my  husband  and  my  God.  I  might  hope 
that  in  my  helpless  situation  I  should  have  the  compassion  of  all 
who  are  from  a  Christian  country.  But  if  you  are  without  compas- 
sion, or  if  it  can  be  exercised  only  in  the  way  you  propose,  then  I 
wish  you  all  to  understand  that  I  am  ready  to  share  the  fate  of  my 
husband,  and  will  by  no  means  consent  to  live  upon  the  terms  you 
offer."  The  unlooked-for  spirit  and  firmness  of  the  people,  who 
appeared  to  act  with  the  most  perfect  unanimity,  proved  for  the 
time  an  effectual  security. 


WILLIAM    RICHARDS.  443 

From  the  commencement  of  tlieir  labours  the  missionaries  had 
shown  singular  forbearance  towards  foreign  visitors  and  residents. 
For  whatever  aid  and  countenance  they  received,  they  publicly 
expressed  their  gratitude;  and  when  aggrieved  by  hostility,  which 
they  had  done  nothing  to  provoke,  beyond  what  they  were  bound  as 
Cliristians  and  philanthropists  to  do  for  a  people  whom  they  came 
expressly  to  save  from  the  degradation  of  sin,  they  contented  them- 
selves with  very  general  and  regretful  allusions  to  the  subject.  But 
events  like  these  just  related  imposed  on  them  the  necessity  of 
appealing  to  the  tribunal  of  public  opinion  against  the  lawless  and 
brutal  men  who  were  so  infamously  conspicuous  in  the  work  of  evil. 
Mr.  Kichards  transmitted  to  Boston  a  full  account  of  Captain  Buckle's 
conduct,  which  was  published,  and  found  its  way  into  the  newspa- 
pers. In  process  of  time  the  printed  narrative  arrived  at  Honolulu. 
The  excitement  was  of  course  unbounded.  The  discovery  that  the 
Sandwich  Islands  were  no  longer  secluded  from  the  observation  of 
the  world,  and  that  men  could  not  revel  in  vice  without  the  risk  of 
exposure  at  home,  was  more  than  the  guilty  could  bear.  They 
threatened  to  take  the  life  of  Mr.  Richards  and  to  destroy  Lahaina. 
A  difficulty  with  Captain  Clark,  who  had  openly  defied  the  laws,  and 
was,  in  consequence,  detained  on  shore  for  some  hours,  by  Hoapili, 
the  native  governor  of  Lahaina,  was  also  made  the  subject  of  com- 
plaint by  the  British  consul.  The  chiefs  called  a  council  to  hear 
complaints  against  the  missionaries.  The  complainants  were  re- 
quested to  reduce  their  charges  to  writing,  but  declined,  and  on  Mr. 
Richards  being  sent  for  to  confront  them,  hastily  retired.  The  chiefs 
passed  laws  against  murder,  theft  and  adultery,  to  be  in  force  in  all 
the  islands;  Hoapili  laid  in  a  quantity  of  cannon  and  ammunition 
at  Lahaina,  to  be  prepared  against  any  future  attacks,  and  this  spe- 
cies of  annoyance  ceased.  It  was  reserved  for  a  great  nation,  the 
boasted  centre  of  the  world's  civilization,  to  bring  its  irresistible 
power  to  bear  on  the  weakness  of  the  islanders,  that  French  priests 
and  French  brandy  might  be  forced  on  a  people  who  loathed  the  one 
and  dreaded  the  other. 

Chagrined  at  the  issue  of  their  contest  with  the  chiefs,  the  foreign 
residents  relieved  their  feelings  by  publishing  slanderous  accusations 
against  the  missionaries,  a  custom  which  has  not  yet  ceased.  Every 
now  and  then  some  voyager  touches  at  Honolulu,  hears  tne  old  story, 
and  publishes  it  to  the  world.  These  tales  have  been  refuted  as  fast 
as  they  have  appeared,  but  the  old  proverb  of  "a  lie  well  stuck  to," 


4.4:4:  WILLIAM    RICHARDS. 

though  coarse,  is  just,  and  applies  with  full  force  to  the  ever-recur- 
ring fictions  vented  bj  men  who  hate  the  missionaries  because  their 
own  evil  deeds  are  rebuked  by  them. 

In  1828  a  season  of  great  religious  interest  was  enjoyed,  which 
continued  for  two  or  three  3'ears.  At  the  close  of  1829  the  commu- 
nicants numbered  one  hundred  and  eighty-five,  and  one  hundred 
and  twelve  were  added  during  the  next  year.  The  progress  of  the 
schools  was  rapid,  and  in  other  respects  the  improvement  of  the 
people  was  manifest.  Undismayed  by  the  past,  the  government  not 
onlj^  reenacted  the  penal  code,  but,  notwithstanding  the  unworthy 
threats  of  the  British  consul,  extended  it  over  the  persons  of  for- 
eigners resident  within  the  jurisdiction.  This  movement  was  sanc- 
tioned by  a  communication  to  the  king  from  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  expressing  the  hope  that  "kindness  and  justice  will 
prevail  between  your  people  and  those  citizens  of  the  United  States 
who  visit  your  islands,  and  that  the  regulations  of  your  government 
will  be  such  as  to  enforce  them  upon  all^ 

Eeligion  and  morals,  however,  must  have  a  firmer  support  than 
the  authority  of  the  municipal  law.  For  several  years,  multitudes 
had  outwardly  conformed  to  the  requirements  of  Christianity  through 
the  power  and  influence  of  the  chiefs.  Had  they  gained  a  sufficient 
hold  on  the  people  to  dispense  with  such  supports?  This  was  tested, 
when,  in  1833,  the  young  king  threw  off  the  restraints  of  a  regency, 
which  had  subsisted  since  the  death  of  Eihoriho.  He  repealed  a 
part  of  the  criminal  code,  including  the  laws  against  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquors,  associated  with  dissolute  persons,  absented  him- 
self from  worship,  and  in  other  ways  gave  the  weight  of  his  authority 
and  example  against  religion.  For  a  time  there  was  a  marked 
relapse.  But  faithful  instruction,  with  the  Divine  blessing,  proved 
stronger  than  the  king,  and  he  himself  was  checked  in  some  degree 
by  his  conscience,  and  held  back  from  the  worst  of  his  designs.  It 
was  manifest  that  the  vital  truths  of  the  gospel  had  been  truly  grafted 
into  many  hearts,  and  were  extending  their  hold  on  the  people.  The 
Drocess  has  since  gone  forward,  interrupted  only  by  the  interference 
of  nations  too  powerful  to  be  resisted  by  the  government,  against 
laws  needed  to  preserve  the  body  of  the  people  from  temptations 
they  had  not  acquired  the  moral  strength  to  resist.  The  history  of 
this  work,  including  those  revivals  that  have  multiplied  converts 
by  thousands,  with  all  the  impulses  to  social  advancement  developed 
from  time  to  time,  is  too  extended  to  be  recited  here,  and  too  well 


WILLIAM    RICHARDS.  445 

known  to  require  repetition.  In  tbe  religious  and  educational  labours 
which  were  the  mainspring  of  the  movement,  Mr.  Richards  bore 
nis  full  part  till  the  year  1837,  when  his  health  and  th6  state  of  his 
family  required  him  to  visit  the  United  States,  Having  provided 
for  the  care  and  education  of  his  six  children,  one  of  whom  died 
not  long  after,  he  immediately  repaired  to  his  post. 

But  his  direct  missionary  work  was  over.  The  king  and  chiefs 
felt  the  need  of  a  more  thorough  reform  in  their  government,  and 
the  need  of  instruction  in  the  principles  of  political  science.  They 
had  requested  tlie  Board  to  send  a  teacher  for  this  purpose,  but  it 
was  aside  from  the  objects  of  their  organization,  and  was  declined. 
On  Mr.  Richards'  return,  in  the  spring  of  1838,  they  requested  him 
to  become  their  chaplain,  teacher  and  interpreter.  With  the  consent 
of  the  Board  he  accepted  the  trust,  and  resigned  his  appointment 
as  a  missionary,  which  he  had  held  and  discharged  with  singular 
fidelity  and  success  for  about  sixteen  years.  And  though  his  past 
studies  and  pursuits  may  seem,  at  first  view,  to  have  been  as  foreign 
as  possible  from  those  of  a  jurist  or  a  statesman,  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  an  average  New-Englander  is  in  possession  of  enough 
political  knowledge  to  instruct  the  most  forward  Pol3^nesian  chief; 
besides,  that  Americans  seem  to  be  endowed  with  a  kind  of  instinct- 
ive faculty  for  government,  or  what  Mr.  Carlyle  sneeringly  calls 
"reverence  for  a  constable's  staff,"  that  emboldens  them  to  impro- 
vise constitutions  and  construct  durable  administrations,  with  a 
facility  and  success  marvellous  to  more  fat-witted  people.  But  Mr. 
Richards  did  not  so  far  presume  on  his  national  birthright,  or  on  the 
docility  of  his  royal  and  noble  pupils,  as  to  do  his  work  extempore. 
"Whatever  he  attempted,  was  undertaken  with  cautious  forethought 
and  the  most  thorough  investigation  his  circumstances  admitted. 
His  success  justified  the  wisdom  of  the  attempt. 

It  is  pertinent  in  this  connection  to  allude  to  the  contradictory 
complaints  that  have  been  freely  made  against  the  missionaries  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands  in  respect  to  their  civil  relations.  Formerly 
they  were  accused  of  intermeddling  with  the  government,  and,  as  we 
have  seen,  Mr.  Richards  was  more  than  once  threatened  with  per- 
sonal violence  by  foreigners  who  held  him  responsible  for  laws  at 
which  they  chose  to  take  offence.  The  accusation  was  unfounded, 
though,  if  it  had  been  true,  there  was  nothing  wrong  in  counselling 


4.46  WILLIAM    RICIIAllDS. 

laws  to  protect  the  morals  of  the  people.  The  persons  who  were 
loudest  in  their  complaints  were  continually  interfering  with  the 
proceedings  of  the  chiefs,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  see  on  what  ground 
they  could  reasonably  claim  a  monopoly  in  the  business  of  giving 
advice.  Their  counsels  were  surely  not  more  disinterested  than  those 
of  the  missionaries.  Mr.  Eichards  and  his  colleagues  did  what  they 
were  bound  to  do  as  ministers  of  religion,  and  no  more.  They  were 
the  moral  and  spiritual  guides  of  the  people.  When  a  chief  made  a 
profession  of  Christianity,  he  naturally  sought  advice  of  the  mission- 
ary in  matters  of  personal  duty.  But  as  a  chief  he  owed  duties  to 
the  people  under  him.  Many  of  the  civil  and  social  customs  of  the 
nation,  that  had  grown  up  in  their  heathen  state,  were  flagrantly 
opposed  to  Christian  principle;'  and  was  a  minister  of  Christ  to 
sanction  them  through  fear  of  exceeding  his  province?  Faithful- 
ness to  the  souls  committed  to  his  charge,  whose  responsibilities 
before  God  were  not  to  be  varied  by  distinctions  of  earthly  rank, 
surely  forbade.  Beyond  this,  and  the  faithful  exhibition  of  scrip- 
tural morality,  they  never  went,  as  missionaries.  When  more  was 
asked  of  them,  as  was  asked  of  Mr.  Eichards,  the  Board,  we  have 
seen,  decided  that  it  was  incompatible  with  missionary  relations. 

Of  late,  the  successful  working  of  a  constitutional  government 
has  excited  a  very  different  complaint.  Some  of  those  who  consider 
republicanism  an  essential  part  of  the  gospel,  or  rather,  something 
so  transcendent  as  to  outrank  everything  else  in  heaven  and  earth, 
have  blamed  the  mission  for  not  constraining  the  king  and  chiefs  to 
abdicate  their  hereditary  functions,  and  set  up  a  democratic  govern- 
ment. Now  this  was  a  matter  in  which  they  had  no  concern,  as  a 
mission,  and  if  they  had  attempted  such  a  revolution  the  probability 
is  that  it  would  have  put  an  end  to  their  enterprise.  They  con- 
sidered their  spiritual  work  their  most  important,  their  exclusive 
work,  and  were  not  likely  to  sacrifice  it  to  gain  inferior  objects. 
The  whole  duty  of  man  does  not  consist  in  voting  and  being  voted 
for.  It  was  possible,  as  has  been  abundantly  proved,  to  bring  the 
king  and  chiefs  under  such  restraints  of  principle  as  should  lead 
them  to  exercise  their  power  in  a  spirit  of  justice  and  equity,  with 
a  scrupulous  regard  to  the  personal  rights  and  happiness  of  their 
subjects,  securing  to  all  the  utmost  liberty  of  speech  and  of  action 
that  any  well-ordered  community  enjoys,  restraining  violence  and 
corruption,  and  throwing  the  safeguards  of  impartial  law  around  the 
most  defenceless.     The  divine  law, — supreme  love  to  God  and  the 


WILLIAM    RICHAEDS.  44; 

equal  love  of  our  neighbour, — and  tlie  golden  rule  of  perfect  reci- 
procity, enforced  by  the  motives  of  the  gospel,  and  by  the  sanctions 
of  conscience  enlightened  from  the  Bible,  are  more  powerful  than 
the  best  balanced  constitution  human  wit  has  framed.  It  is  not 
claimed  that  the  government  of  the  Sandwich  Islands  reached  a 
perfect  ideal  standard ;  the  imperfections  of  human  nature  in  its  best 
state  forbid  this,  and  the  state  of  the  Hawaiian  people  was  many 
degrees  below  the  best;  but  most  of  those  who  have  found  fault 
with  their  laws  belong  to  a  class  whose  standard  of  moral  action 
would  hardly  bear  comparison  with  that  of  the  people  they  despise. 

Mr.  Eichards  did  not  at  first  hold  any  political  office,  but  as  chap- 
lain and  interpreter  was  expected  to  attend  on  the  king  and  chiefs, 
and  as  a  teacher,  to  give  them  information  on  the  general  principles 
of  civil  government  recognised  by  civilized  and  Christian  states. 
He  did  not  set  up  for  a  jurist  or  political  economist.  Probably  he 
was  able  to  do  more  for  his  royal  and  noble  pupils  than  if  he  had. 
He  steered  clear  of  technicalities  and  "  binding  precedents,"  of  forms 
venerable  only  because  they  are  old,  and  maxims  assented  to  out  of 
reverence  for  great  names.  He  took  the  moral  law  as  his  stand- 
point, and  to  this  brought  all  municipal  laws  for  comparison. 
Whether  the  subsequent  introduction  of  a  more  artificial  system 
has  been  for  the  best  good  of  the  nation  may  be  doubted. 

On  the  regular  organization  of  a  responsible  government,  Mr. 
Richards  was  for  a  time  a  member  of  the  cabinet,  and  was  despatched 
as  an  ambassador  to  England  and  other  foreign  courts.  These 
appointments  indicated  the  high  confidence  his  probity  and  his  dis- 
interested devotion  to  the  welfare  of  the  islands  had  justly  inspired, 
but  he  was  never  formed  by  nature  for  a  diplomatist,  and  his  suc- 
cess was  not  distinguished.  He  was  a  better  keeper  of  the  royal 
conscience  than  of  the  "great  seal,"  more  likely  to  be  useful  as  an 
adviser  than  as  a  responsible  minister,  and  more  at  home  in  the 
Hawaiian  than  in  any  European  court. 

In  the  year  1841,  the  American  Board  resigned  their  common 
schools  on  the  islands  to  the  government,  which  was  able  to  sup- 
])ort  them,  and  very  properly  regarded  them  as  a  national  concern. 
The  oversight  of  them  was  committed  to  Mr.  Richards.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1846,  this  branch  of  public  service  was  recognised  as  a  distinct 
department  of  administration,  at  the  head  of  which  he  was  placed, 
with  the  title  of  Minister  of  Public  Instruction.  He  continued  in 
the  exercise  of  his  official  duties  about  a  year,  but  his  health  was 


448  WILLIAM    RICHARDS. 

enfeebled,  and  it  became  evident  that  his  career  was  nearly  ended. 
He  died  November  7,  1847,  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Kichards  was  not  distinguished  by  originality  of  genius  or 
brilliancy  of  talent.  But  he  was  plentifully  endowed  with  that  which 
is  better  than  either, — sound  judgment.  When  he  had  a  good 
object  before  him,  one  that  commended  itself  to  his  moral  judgment, 
he  could  work  for  it,  and  work  till  it  was  accomplished  or  was  -proved 
to  be  impossible.  His  character  was  eminently  fitted  to  inspire  con- 
fidence, true  and  frank,  and  always  decided.  He  was  "upright  and 
downright."  With  his  clear-sighted  and  single-minded  integritj^ 
was  naturally  allied  an  absolute  fearlessness.  How  important  these 
qualities  are  in  a  missionary,  especially  among  savages, — and  such 
were  the  Sandwich  Islanders,  in  spite  of  the  barbarian  precocity  of 
Kamehameha  I., — needs  only  to  be  stated.  Clearly,  all  depends  on 
gaining  their  confidence,  if  possible  their  affection.  This  Mr.  Rich- 
ards did  in  an  eminent  degree.  When  his  life  was  endangered  by 
ruffian  violence,  they  were  ready  to  stake  their  lives  for  his.  In 
those  critical  circumstances,  when  the  garden  the  missionaries  had 
enclosed  with  such  pains  from  the  wilderness  was  in  danger  of  being 
broken  open  and  laid  waste,  had  a  timid  man  stood  in  his  place,  in 
all  human  probability  the  spoilers  would  have  consummated  their 
purpose.  Had  he  not  proved  himself  worthy  the  most  devoted 
attachment  of  the  people,  they  would  have  abandoned  him  to  the 
fury  of  those  who  sought  his  life.  And  it  may  be  remarked,  in 
Dassing,  that  he  was  blessed  in  having  a  wife  whose  spirit  was  as 
unconquerable  as  his  own,  one  who  strengthened  his  hands  and  con- 
firmed him  in  the  right,  when  feminine  weakness  might  have  been 
pardoned  for  yielding  to  the  promptings  of  fear.  The  foundations 
of  his  moral  strength  were  strongly  laid  in  the  principles  of  religion. 
His  piety  was  robust,  because  it  "grew  with  his  growth."  It  was 
implanted  at  an  early  age,  before  time  had  been  given  for  the  tempt- 
ations of  youth  to  confirm  evil  habits,  and  to  ingrain  those  dark  traits 
in  the  soul  which  so  often  prove  the  canker  of  Christian  enjoyment 
through  a  life-time.* 

After  all,  some  may  suggest,  the  object  of  his  mission  to  the  Sand- 

*  The  writer  regrets  that  his  efforts  to  procure  the  materials  for  a  more  vivid  per- 
sonal  portraiture  of  Mr.  Richards  were  unsuccessful,  compelling  him  to  depict  his 
public,  to  the  exclusion  in  great  part  of  his  personal  and  domestic  life. 


WILLIAM    RICHARDS.  449 

wicli  Islands  is  not  likely  to  be  accomplished.  The  Hawaiian  race 
is  doomed  to  extinction,  the  government  is  a  prey  for  France  or 
some  other  power,  and  not  a  vestige  will  be  left  of  the  language,  the 
literature  or  the  institutions  he  contributed  to  form  and  strove  to 
establish.  It  may  be  so.  The  progressive  decrease  of  the  popula- 
tion looks  dark  for  the  future  of  that  interesting  race.  France  has 
repeatedly  interfered  with  cowardly  force  to  dictate  the  legislation 
of  a  community  whose  weakness  should  appeal  to  the  magnanimity 
of  a  great  nation ;  and  to  compel  the  admission  of  that  liquid  fire 
which  unrestrained  will  most  surely  consume  the  people.  Yet  it 
may  be  otherwise.  In  the  agitations  of  the  present  time,  the  great 
powers  are  likely  to  find  something  more  important  lo  attend  to 
than  the  worrying  of  a  handful  of  poor  islanders,  whose  most  hein- ' 
ous  offence  is  hostility  to  French  brandy.  With  their  steady  increase 
in  knowledge  and  the  arts  of  life,  the  decay  of  population  may  be 
arrested.  But  all  such  questions  leave  out  of  sight  the  primary  pur- 
pose of  the  mission.  It  was  established  to  gain  subjects  for  a  king- 
dom not  of  this  world,  the  kingdom  of  Him  who  was  despised  and 
rejected  of  men.  Though  not  a  visible  vestige  should  be  left  of  what 
they  wrought,  God  working  with  them,  in  the  isles  of  the  Pacific, 
the  souls  that  have  been  there  raised  up  from  the  death  of  sin  to  the 
life  of  righteousness  are  all  safe.  They  have  been,  or  will  be,  pre- 
sented "faultless  before  the  presence  of  His  glory  with  exceeding 
joy."  That  from  such  a  mass  of  savage  degradation  a  Christian 
nation  like  the  Hawaiian  kingdom  should  have  risen  within  a  quar- 
ter of  a  century,  is  a  great  fact.  That  they  should  be  unable  to 
recover  from  the  effects  of  a  progressive  deterioration,  extending 
through  centuries,  is  no  drawback  to  the  admiration  which  such  a 
spectacle  justly  claims.  Least  of  all  is  it  an  objection  that  they 
cannot  resist  a  power  like  France.  But  as  the  heaven  is  high  above 
the  earth,  so  the  true  result  of  the  missionary  work  rises  sublimely 
above  all  material  and  national  distinctions,  in  the  eye  of  Him  before 
whose  face  the  heavens  and  the  earth  shall  flee  away ;  and  the  eye 
of  faith  cannot  be  diverted  from  the  glory  that  is  to  be  revealed. 
29 


ARD   HOYT. 


The  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  very 
soon  after  its  formation,  was  called  to  the  subject  of  missions  among 
the  Indian  tribes  of  North  America  by  a  request  from  the  Delawares, 
communicated  through  the  Hon.  Elias  Boudinot  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing in  1814,  that  missionaries  might  be  sent  among  them.  On  this 
memorial  the  Board  voted  that  in  their  opinion,  "independent  and 
unevangelized  Indians,  occupying  their  own  lands,  whether  without 
or  within  the  limits  stated  in  the  treaty  of  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  are,  with  other  objects,  embraced  by  the 
act  of  their  incorporation."  In  1816  Rev.  Cyrus  Kingsbury  visited 
the  Cherokee  country,  having  received  from  the  Secretary  of  War 
assurances  that  the  United  States'  government  would  be  at  the 
expense  of  erecting  school-houses  and  dwellings  for  teachers,  and 
furnishing  implements  of  agriculture  and  the  domestic  arts  for  the 
pupils  that  should  be  gathered.  He  was  received  at  a  national  coun- 
cil, attended  bj'  General  Jackson  on  the  part  of  the  United  States; 
the  plans  he  proposed  were  favourably  responded  to  by  the  chiefs, 
and  a  mission  was  commenced  in  the  following  year.  The  Moravi- 
ans had  commenced  their  labours  in  1801,  and  maintained  a  school 
at  Springplace  at  which  forty  or  fifty  persons  were  taught.  The 
church  contained  two  Cherokee  members,  one  of  whom,  Mr.  Charles 
R.  Hicks,  was  said  to  be  the  second  in  rank  and  the  first  in  influence 
among  the  chiefs.  Operations  had  also  been  commenced  among  the 
same  people  by  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
at  the  instance  of  the  Rev.  Gideon  Blackburn,  who  undertook  the 
establishment  of  schools.  One  was  founded  in  1804  and  another 
in  1807,  having  about  seventy-five  pupils.  Both  had  ceased  to  exist 
when  Mr.  Kingsbury  visited  the  nation,  having  probably  been  broken 
up  by  the  war  of  1812.  The  Cherokee  nation  contained  in  1810 
twelve  thousand  three  hundred  and  ninety-five  Indians,  and  three 
hundred  and  forty-one  whites, — one  hundred  and  thirteen  with  In- 
dian wives.     They  were  making  progress  in  agriculture  and  domestic 


452  ARD    IIOYT. 

manufactures,  and  had  within  two  years  organized  a  regular  consti- 
tution of  government.  Their  territory,  with  that  of  the  Choctaws, 
originally  extended  over  the  northern  parts  of  the  states  of  Georgia, 
Alabama,  and  Mississippi,  including,  also,  parts  of  North  Carolina 
and  Tennessee.  Tracts  were  ceded  from  time  to  time  to  the  United 
States;  but  a  considerable  section  of  country  still  remained  in  their 
undisputed  possession,  which  they  occupied,  in  the  enjo3anent  of 
political  independence,  and  in  the  exercise  of  an  enterprising  spirit 
that  promised  and  rapidly  achieved  an  almost  unexampled  growth 
in  civilization.* 

Mr.  Kingsbury  commenced  his  mission  in  January,  1817.  To 
promote  the  physical  improvement  of  the  Indians,  a  farm  was  pur- 
chased, a  dwelling-house,  school-house,  grist-mill,  and  other  necessary 
buildings  were  erected,  and  Mr.  Kingsbury  was  able  to  commence 
teaching  and  preaching.  He  had  been  joined  in  March  by  two  mis- 
sionaries, Messrs.  Hall  and  Williams,  one  of  whom  took  charge  of  the 
school  and  the  other  of  the  farm.  The  station  was  prospered  both 
in  its  secular  and  its  religious  interests.  In  November  Mr.  Kings- 
bury was  privileged  to  report  the  hopeful  conversion  of  three  Chero- 
kees,  one  of  whom,  a  girl  of  eighteen,  was  Catharine  Brown,  the 
daughter  of  half-breed  parents,  whose  name  has  been  long  familiar  to 
persons  interested  in  the  progress  of  Christianity  among  the  abori- 
gines of  this  continent.  About  this  time  the  mission  was  reinforced 
by  the  appointment  of  the  Eev.  Ard  Hoyt,  who  arrived  with  his 
family  in  the  Cherokee  country  on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  and 
reached  his  station  at  Brainerd,  January  3d,  1818. 

Of  the  early  life  of  Mr.  Hoyt  but  little  information  can  be  here 
given.  He  was  born  at  Danbury,  Connecticut,  October  23,  1770. 
He  was  not  educated  for  the  ministry,  but  was  drawn  from  secular 
pursuits  in  the  prime  of  life  to  devote  himself  to  that  service,  and 
at  the  time  of  his  engagement  as  a  missionary  was  settled  in  the 
pastoral  ofiice  at  Wilkesbarre,  Pennsylvania.  The  tidings  that 
reached  him  of  the  movement  to  Christianize  the  Cherokees  warmly 
interested  himself  and  his  family,  and  they  united  in  an  offer  of  their 
services  to  the  Board.  Mr.  Hoyt  was  then  forty -six  years  of  age; 
he  had  a  son  in  the  junior  class  of  the  College  of  New  Jersey,  at 
Princeton,  and  two  daughters,  all  pious,  and  ready  for  the  enterprise. 
Mr.  William  Chamberlain,  a  young  man  studying  with  a  view  to 

*Tracy's  History  of  the  American  Board. 


ARD   HOYT.  453 

missionary  service,  and  at  tliat  time  an  inmate  of  his  house,  joined  in 
this  proposal,  which  was  accepted.  Mr.  Hoyt  obtained  a  dismissal  from 
his  cono:re2:ation,  and  acted  for  a  short  time  as  an  asrent  of  the  Board. 
He  was  notified  to  set  out  for  the  Cherokee  country  in  November. 
The  household  were  ready.  They  received  the  notice  on  a  Saturday, 
and  the  Monday  following  saw  them  on  their  way.  There  is  some- 
thing peculiarly  pleasant  in  the  contemplation  of  a  united  household, 
animated  hj  a  common  attachment  to  a  common  cause  of  philan- 
thropy, moving  together  into  the  wilderness.  The  Christian  public 
followed  "Father  Hoyt,"  (as  he  was  styled  in  the  mission  journal, 
probably  to  distinguish  him  from  his  son,  but  yet  suggestive  of  the 
afiection  that  reigned  in  their  circle,)  with  more  than  common  inter- 
est in  his  journey  southward,  so  happily  accompanied.  It  was  a 
spectacle  that  had  both  a  patriarchal  and  a  Christian  aspect,  the 
characteristics  of  which  were  brought  into  stronger  relief  by  the 
frank  simplicity  that  marked  all  Mr.  Hoyt's  communications. 

Very  soon  after  his  arrival  he  was  gratified  by  a  visible  proof  of 
the  productive  character  of  the  work  in  which  he  had  so  cordially 
embarked.  The  mission  church  held  its  first  meeting  for  the  exami- 
nation of  candidates  for  admission  on  the  21st  of  January.  Three 
Cherokees,  one  of  them  Catharine  Brown,  already  mentioned,  were 
approved  and  received.  Three  days  afterward  Mr.  Hoyt,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Hall,  a  colleague  at  the  station,  went  out  to  visit 
among  the  people.  At  night  he  held  a  meeting  for  preaching  with 
the  aid  of  an  interpreter.  Several  Indians  were  present,  and  listened 
with  seriousness.  One  woman  said  she  had  always  believed  that 
the  good  would  be  rewarded,  and  the  bad  punished  after  death,  but 
liad  never  heard  of  any  way  by  which  the  wicked  could  become 
good  and  happy.  She  had  been  so  alarmed  on  account  of  her  sins 
that  she  had  fled  from  her  own  house  to  hide  in  the  woods.  On  the 
1st  of  February  two  Cherokees  were  admitted  to  the  church.  A 
man  who  was  present  accepted  of  an  invitation  to  remain  with  the 
missionaries  all  night.  He  said  he  did  not  understand  what  had 
been  said  and  done  that  day,  but  he  had  heard  that  the  missionaries 
could  tell  him  some  way  by  which  bad  people  could  become  good 
and  be  made  happy  after  death;  he  was  himself  bad,  but  wanted  to 
become  good,  and  had  come  to  learn  the  way.  It  must  be  pleasant 
to  preach  the  gospel  to  those  to  whom  it  is  indeed  good  tidings,  and 
such  was  the  happiness  of  the  labourers  among  the  Cherokees. 

Some  difficulties  were  indeed  experienced,  arising  from  the  agita- 


454  ARD    HOYT. 

tion  felt  by  the  people  in  view  of  projects  to  remove  them  beyond 
the  Mississippi.  The  apprehension  of  such  a  flite  discouraged  their 
efforts  to  improve  themselves  and  to  educate  their  children.  Parents 
who  ardently  desired  for  their  children  the  advantages  of  the  mis- 
sion-schools withheld  them,  saying  that  very  likely  they  would  be 
driven  westward  before  they  could  learn  enough  to  do  them  any 
good.  The  assurances  they  received  that  their  teachers  would 
accompany  them  wherever  they  went  quieted  this  feeling  in  a  meas- 
ure, and  a  treaty  with  the  United  States  in  1819,  confirming  their 
possession  in  perpetuity  of  the  territory  they  occupied,  restored 
their  confidence.  The  evil  day  was  only  postponed.  The  people, 
trusting  in  the  good  faith  of  our  government,  made  such  advances 
in  all  the  arts  of  life  as  immensely  aggravated  the  sacrifice  they  were 
afterwards  compelled  to  make,  from  which  they  have  never  fully 
recovered.* 

In  the  face  of  all  difficulties,  and  with  a  force  insufficient  for  the 
discharge  of  all  the  duties  pressing  on  them,  the  mission  persevered 
in  their  labours  of  love.  Mr.  Hoyt,  as  superintendent  of  the  station, 
found  himself  at  length  unequal  to  his  burdens,  and  was  laid  aside 
by  a  severe  sickness  for  several  weeks.  It  was  apparently  a  pulmo- 
nary attack,  which  weakened  him  rapidly,  and  was  accompanied  by 
much  acute  pain.  The  mission  was  largely  reinforced  within  the 
succeeding  two  years.  On  the  4th  of  January,  1823,  five  years 
having  elapsed  since  he  came  with  his  family  to  Brainerd,  he  was 
able  to  look  back  on  displays  of  providential  and  gracious  benefits 
enjoyed  by  them,  which  awakened  the  liveliest  gratitude.  Thirty- 
six  adults  had  been  received  to  church  fellowship  at  two  stations, 

*  The  writer  is  awnre  that  numerous  and  plausible  arguments  for  the  removal  of 
the  Cherokecs  have  been  made,  by  men  whose  disinterested  regard  for  the  welfare  of 
the  aboriginal  races  entitles  their  advocacy  to  great  consideration;  and  that  many 
others  who  originally  condemned  the  measure,  since  it  has  been  irrevocably  acconi 
plished,  have  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  it  was  necessary  and  expedient.  But  it 
is  a  noticeable  trait  of  our  people,  first  to  acquiesce  in,  and  finally  to  approve,  wliat- 
ever  is  enacted,  no  matter  how  odious  it  may  have  been  before  it  was  engrossed  on 
parchment,  or  sanctified  by  the  application  of  sealing-wax.  Resignation  to  the  fate 
of  others,  moreover,  is  always  easy.  We  have  no  wish  to  enter  into  the  question 
here,  but  it  was  impossible  to  avoid  mention  of  the  subject,  and  equally  impossible, 
while  so  doing,  to  repress  our  unch:inged  conviction,  that  the  policy  of  removal  was 
unjust  and  injurious, — injurious  to  the  morals,  and  doing  violence  to  all  those  senti- 
ments which  are  essential  to  the  progress  of  any  people,  even  if  there  was  not  pecu- 
niary loss;  which  may  be  doubted.  The  act  is  now  irremediable,  but  that  is  no 
reason  for  giving  it  an  ex  post  facto  approval. 


ARD    HOYT.  455 

the  schools  were  fall,  and  answered  every  reasonable  expectation, 
the  scholars  were  attentive  to  instruction  and  susceptible  to  religious 
influences,  and  several  in  the  congregation,  not  members  of  the 
church,  gave  pleasing  proof  that  they  were  truly  pious.  The 
Moravian,  the  Baptist,  and  other  missions  within  the  bounds  of  the 
nation,  had  met  with  the  like  success,  so  that  though  the  field  was 
large  and  imperfectly  cultivated,  there  was  the  fairest  promise  of  a 
fruitful  harvest. 

In  the  following  year  a  great  change  took  place  in  the  manage- 
ment of  the  mission.  The  station  at  Brainerd  had  been  formed  and 
managed  on  an  extensive  scale,  to  include  the  cultivation  of  a  farm, 
the  promotion  of  mechanical  arts  and  other  civilizing  processes. 
Such  a  plan  required  the  concentration  of  a  large  and  somewhat 
incongruous  missionary  force,  for  whose  agreement  on  the  detail  of 
plans  frequent  and  protracted  discussion  was  sometimes  necessary. 
Secular  cares  impeded  the  more  direct  aims  of  the  mission,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  expense  incurred  in  supporting  such  an  establish- 
ment, it  was  thought,  would  do  more  for  the  good  of  the  people  if 
more  widely  diffused  among  them.  The  number  employed  there 
was  reduced  about  one-half,  the  persons  detached  being  appointed 
to  superintend  other  stations.  Mr.  Hoyt  was  one  of  these.  He  was 
designated  to  "Willstown.  He  was  not  able  to  enter  upon  his  new 
sphere  at  once,  having  again  been  prostrated  with  weakness,  which 
intermitted  his  labours  for  three  months.  He  removed  in  the  sum- 
mer, and  on  the  10th  of  October  organized  a  church  at  Willstown, 
composed  of  nine  Christian  Cherokees,  one  of  whom,  it  being  a 
Presbyterian  church,  was  appointed  an  elder.  The  congregation 
was  serious,  and  there  were  encouraging  cases  of  inquiry.  A  general 
increase  of  interest  in  religion  seemed  to  follow  the  dispersion  of  the 
heathen  and  their  nearer  contact  with  the  people.  More  than  fifly 
converts  were  added  to  the  several  churches. 

Preaching  had  hitherto  been  chiefly  performed  by  the  aid  of  an 
interpreter,  a  process  that  was  felt  to  be  a  serious  hindrance  to 
effective  eloquence.  Some  educated  Cherokees  had  done  what  no 
others  could  do  so  well,  and  their  ministerial  labours  in  aid  of  the 
missionaries  had  been  much  valued.  But  it  was  still  felt  to  be  import- 
ant that  the  Indians  should  have  the  Scriptures,  and  to  learn  them 
English  was  impracticable,  in  the  lifetime  of  one  generation  at  least. 
While  efforts  were  making  to  reduce  the  language  to  writing,  a  native 
Cherokee  anticipated  the  learned  men  in  their  own  line,  by  inventing 


456  ARD    HOYT. 

an  alphabet,  so  simple  in  its  analysis  of  sounds  that  no  difficulty  was 
experienced  in  learning  to  read  in  two  or  three  days.  It  is  indeed 
a  phonetic  alphabet,  the  perfection  of  which  must  rank  its  inventor, 
George  Guess,  among  philological  geniuses.  The  year  1825  saw  a 
printing-press  and  types  in  operation,  by  means  of  which  a  transla- 
tion of  the  New-Testament,  made  from  the  Greek,  by  David  Brown, 
a  Cherokee  scholar,  was  given  to  the  people  in  their  new  language. 
A  newspaper  followed,  and  hymns,  and  it  was  evident  that  a  decided 
step  in  advance  was  at  once  made  by  the  nation. 

Mr.  Hoyt  was  too  feeble  in  health  long  to  perform  his  accustomed 
amount  of  labour.  For  several  years  he  had  borne  the  weighty 
charge  of  superintendent  of  the  mission,  adding  to  these  cares  the 
frequent  preaching  of  the  word,  which  had  a  marked  effect  on  his 
auditors.  At  Willstown  this  was  his  chief,  and,  as  his  strength 
declined,  his  only  employment.  He  fulfilled  the  public  duties  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  during  the  week  received  at  his  house  all  who 
sought  advice.  The  number  was  not  small,  for  the  Indians  regarded 
him  as  a  father  and  friend.  The  members  of  the  church  more  espe- 
cially felt  a  warm  attachment  to  him  as  their  spiritual  guide  and 
counsellor.  But  it  was  plain  that  he  could  not  be  long  with  them. 
He  saw  himself  to  be  nearing  the  confines  of  eternity,  and  his  mind 
looked  forward  into  the  state  of  untried  being,  with  the  steady  gaze 
of  an  assured  faith.  He  once  said  in  conversation  that  "his  thoughts 
were  not  much  on  death,  but  rather  on  what  is  beyond  it.  The 
Christian's  progress  appeared  to  him  like  one  continued  course ;  and 
though  the  step  from  earth  to  heaven  is  greater  than  any  other  step, 
yet  to  the  faithful  it  would  be  easy." 

Still  he  was  not  looking  for  a  sudden  departure.  The  summons 
came  "at  midnight,"  but  he  was  ready.  On  Sunday,  the  17th  of 
February,  1828,  he  preached  for  the  last  time,  from  the  words,  "Let 
the  same  mind  be  in  you  which  was  also  in  Christ  Jesus."  The 
next  day  he  read  in  his  worship  the  twelfth  chapter  of  St.  Luke, 
speaking  with  animation  of  the  preciousness  of  the  promises.  He 
retired  to  rest  apparently  in  his  usual  health.  At  half-past  ten  he 
suddenly  rose,  dressed,  and  raised  a  window,  exclaiming,  "I  want 
breath!"  Unavailing  efforts  were  made  to  relieve  him.  His  time 
had  come.  Lifting  his  eyes  to  heaven  with  a  look  of  rapture,  he 
said,  "I'm  going!"  After  a  pause,  he  again  looked  upward,  with 
a  still   more  triumphant  expression,  and  repeated,  "I'm  going!" — 


ARD    HOYT.  457 

then  bowed  his  head  with  a  smile  of  unalloyed  satisfaction,  and 
"fell  asleep." 

Mr.  Hoyt  was  an  unpretending  man,  possessed  of  a  good  under- 
standing, and  more  than  common  sagacity  and  judgment.  His  temper 
was  frank  and.  communicative,  and  with  his  power  of  just  observa- 
tion made  him,  indirectly  as  well  as  directly,  of  excellent  service  to 
the  cause  that  enlisted  his  warmest  interest.  His  journals,  some- 
times minute,  always  picturesque  and  vivid,  were  read  with  avidity, 
and  did  much  to  quicken  public  sympathy  for  the  mission.  His 
heart  was  drawn  out  towards  the  Indians,  not  in  a  poetical  or  roman- 
tic, but  in  a  jpractical  benevolence.  He  did  not  live  to  see  the  full 
confirmation  of  the  faith  that  prompted  effort  for  their  elevation 
into  a  civilized  and  Christian  society,  or  to  view  with  ineffectual 
sorrow  the  wrongs  they  suffered.  But  he  aided  in  casting  in  the 
leaven  which  has  since  wrought  with  such  transforming  power  on  the 
nation, — in  sowing  the  seed  which  has  since  been  multiplied  in  the 
reaper's  hands, — in  originating  a  movement  incapable  of  arrest,  save 
by  the  extinction  of  the  people  Avhom  it  is  bearing  onward  toward 
the  farthest  goal  of  human  progress.     His  works  do  follow  him. 


CYRUS   SHEPARD. 


In  the  missionary  enterprise,  as  in  other  evangelical  labours, 
"there  are  diversities  of  operations."  Besides  the  ministry  of  the 
gospel,  wliich  is  the  chief  agency  honoured  by  God  in  the  conversion 
of  the  heathen,  there  is  room  for  the  intervention  of  lay  agency, 
conducting  departments  of  effective  labour  auxiliary  to  the  main 
process.  It  is  well  to  bring  into  remembrance  some  of  those  who,  in 
such  spheres  of  effort,  have  vied  in  self-denying  toil  with  any  of  the 
more  honoured  leaders  of  Christian  enterprise,  though  less  regarded 
by  those  who  observe  the  progress  of  evangelization.  Such  a  man 
was  the  subject  of  this  brief  notice. 

Cyrus  Shepard  was  born  at  Acton,  Massachusetts,  August  14, 
1798.  When  he  was  very  young,  his  parents  removed  to  Phillipston, 
where  he  grew  up  to  manhood.  His  father  was  a  revolutionary  sol- 
dier, and  died  on  the  morning  of  Independence-day,  1881.  At  an 
early  age  the  son  became  deeply  engaged  in  study,  and  adopted  the 
profession  of  a  common  school-teacher.  He  was  exemplary  in  his 
deportment,  and  sound  in  his  moral  and  religious  principles,  but  was 
a  stranger  to  experimental  religion  till  he  had  entered  on  the  twenty- 
eighth  year  of  his  age.  Previous  to  this  time  he  had  been  punctual 
in  attendance  on  the  means  of  grace,  and  his  profession  as  a  teacher 
brought  him  often  under  the  more  immediate  personal  influence  of 
clergymen  and  other  religious  men.  His  private  journal  shows  that 
he  was  not  without  frequent  impressions  concerning  his  religious 
duty.  In  Januar}',  1826,  these  convictions,  long  postponed,  were 
urged  upon  his  conscience  with  a  force  he  had  formerly  been  a 
stranger  to,  at  a  Methodist  meeting,  the  first  he  had  ever  attended. 
He  was  shortly  enabled  to  cherish  a  good  hope  of  salvation,  though 
at  first  with  trembling.  The  course  he  afterwards  led  abundantly 
proved  the  genuineness  of  his  conversion.  It  was  not  brilliant,  but 
steady.  He  was  obedient  in  all  things,  as  the  way  of  duty  was  made 
known  to  him.     He  made  no  attempt  to  evade  "one  of  these  least 


460  CYKUS    SHEPARD. 

commandments," — a  spirit  whicli  invariably  leads  to  a  breacli  of  the 
greater, — but  diligently  sought  to  be  blameless,  and  this  from  no 
constraint  but  that  of  love. 

The  duties  of  a  common  school-teacher  in  Massachusetts  at  that 
time  demanded  less  literary  preparation  than  is  now  exacted  by  the 
advanced  state  of  public  opinion,  and  as  supply  is  generally  gradu- 
ated by  demand,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Mr,  Shepard's 
acquisitions  in  this  respect  would  now  be  considered  eminent,  but 
they  were  fully  up  to  the  standard  then  required.  He  was  consci- 
entiously diligent  in  the  pursuit  of  every  branch  of  study  he  had  to 
teach,  and  his  skill  in  imparting  instruction  made  him  a  valued  pre- 
ceptor. He  had  unusual  tact,  a  ready  insight  into  character,  and  a 
fiicult^^  of  adapting  his  instructions  to  the  capacity  of  his  pupils. 
He  was  able  to  gain  their  esteem  and  confidence  in  an  unusual 
degree;  they  not  only  respected,  but  learned  to  love  him, — a  harder 
thing  to  gain  than  admiration,  and  to  a  generous  mind  far  better. 
He  loved  his  work,  and  he  felt  a  deep  and  affectionate  interest  in 
his  pupils.  This  led  him  to  cherish  a  constant  feeling  of  responsi- 
bility for  the  manner  in  which  he  discharged  his  duty.  Indeed,  his 
solicitude  on  this  point  was  a  chief  means  of  fastening  in  his  mind 
the  conviction  that  he  needed  divine  help  in  his  emploj^ment,  and 
was  a  remote  occasion  of  that  tenderness  of  conscience  which  led  to 
his  conversion  and  so  distinguished  his  character  as  a  Christian.  It 
may  well  be  inferred  that  such  a  man  would  not  be  content  to  let 
slip  the  opportunities  he  had  of  inculcating  that  heavenly  wisdom 
which  is  most  needful  for  the  soul.  He  exerted  a  constant  and  val- 
uable religious  influence,  the  effect  of  which  was  visible  to  some 
extent,  but  can  be  fully  known  only  when  it  shall  be  revealed  at 
the  last  day. 

In  1829  Mr.  Shepard  removed  to  Lynn,  where  a  new  and  more 
striking  development  of  his  character  appeared.  He  was  here  called 
upon  to  exercise  a  wider  religious  activity  than  he  had  done,  by  the 
existence  of  a  deep  and  extensive  religious  interest  in  which  several 
churches  participated.  He  was  not  licensed  as  a  preacher,  nor  was 
he  forward  in  any  labours  of  a  public  character;  but  in  little  circles 
for  prayer  and  religious  conference,  and  more  especially  by  familiar 
and  faithful  conversation  with  persons  in  whose  welfare  he  felt  inter- 
ested, he  became  the  instrument  of  great  good  to  many,  particularly 
young  men. 

But  it  was  chiefly  his  connection  with  the  Sabbath  school  that  dis- 


CYRUS    SHEPARD.  4G1 

closed  those  traits  vvbicli  marked  him  out  as  a  missionary.  A  short 
time  previous  to  his  removal  to  Lynn,  the  Sabbath-school  had  been 
reorganized  on  an  efficient  plan.  A  teachers'  class  had  been  formed, 
with  a  good  library,  containing  many  standard  books  of  reference. 
Mr.  Shepard  was  always  punctually  present  to  participate  in  the 
examination  of  the  lesson  they  were  to  teach,  though  his  modesty 
did  not  permit  him  to  become  specially  prominent  in  the  discussions 
of  the  class.  But  he  soon  gathered  round  himself  a  lesser  circle  of 
teachers,  who  met  regularly  to  consider  the  topics  of  instruction,  the 
state  of  their  respective  classes,  their  encouragements  and  their  hin- 
drances, studying  to  strengthen  their  hands  by  mutual  counsel  and 
supplication.  He  was  a  successful  teacher;  his  diligence  in  prepar- 
ation gave  him  power.  His  whole  heart  was  in  the  work.  More- 
over his  opinions,  in  regard  to  the  expectations  of  success  teachers 
may  be  permitted  to  form,  were  in  advance  of  those  held  by  most  at 
that  time,  and  by  too  many  now.  He  believed  in  labouring  for  the 
conversion  of  children;  that  children,  who  are  old  enough  to  sin, 
are  old  enough  to  repent,  and  to  exercise  Christian  affections.  His 
efforts  were  not  vain. 

At  how  early  a  period  his  mind  was  turned  to  the  subject  of  mis- 
sions it  is  not  easy  to  determine,  but  it  was  cherished  among  his 
first  and  strongest  Christian  affections.  It  was  the  fruit  of  an  earn- 
est love  of  souls,  that  overstepped  all  local  and  accidental  distinctions, 
.  and  fastened  itself  on  the  great  facts  that  equally  concern  all  men, 
as  the  guilty  subjects  of  one  moral  government,  heirs  in  common  of 
immortality,  and  bound  to  the  same  judgment-seat.  His  views  were 
large ;  he  looked  abroad  among  the  nations,  and  the  evidence  that 
"the  whole  world  lieth  in  wickedness"  painfully  oppressed  his  spirit. 
The  conviction  eventually  fastened  on  his  mind  that  he  was  person- 
ally called  to  engage  in  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  heathen,  but 
he  did  not  immediately  press  forward  to  offer  himself  for  the  service. 
He  waited  for  a  more  decisive  providential  confirmation  of  his  views. 
Meanwhile,  he  was  active  in  manifesting  his  interest  in  the  cause 
and  enlisting  others.  He  always  attended  the  monthly  concert  of 
prayer  for  the  world's  conversion,  an  appointment  he  greatly  loved. 
He  contributed  liberally  for  the  promotion  of  the  object  of  his 
prayers.  The  teachers'  class  became  a  missionary  society,  each 
member  collecting  the  voluntary  gifts  of  his  pupils,  and,  with  his 
own,  paying  them  over  to  their  common  fund.  During  the  first 
three  years  of  its  existence  the  school  collected  three  hundred  dol- 


462  CYRUS    SHEPARD. 

lars,  whicli  was  at  first  given  to  the  Methodist  mission  among  the 
Indians  in  Canada,  and  subsequently  to  the  support  of  a  school 
among  the  Oneidas.  A  translation  of  the  Wesleyan  Catechism  No. 
I.  was  also  printed  for  the  use  of  this  school  at  their  expense,  and 
was  dedicated  to  "the  members  of  the  Sabbath-school  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  at  Lynn  Common." 

Africa  was  first  present  to  Mr.  Shepard's  mind  as  a  field  of  mis- 
sionary effort.  He  did  not  aspire  to  the  ministry,  but  pleased  himself 
with  the  thought  of  gathering  the  young  about  him,  as  had  been  his 
wont,  and  teaching  them  the  elements  of  divine  wisdom.  On  one 
occasion  he  said  to  a  friend,  smiling,  "0  brother,  I  have  had  a  most 
delightful  dream.  Would  that  I  could  realize  it!  I  set  sail  for 
Africa  with  our  missionaries,  and  our  noble  ship  dashed  finely  on 
towards  that  distant  and  neglected  land,  while  my  heart  leaped 
within  me  for  joy.  I  had  gathered  around  me  already  the  sable  chil- 
dren of  the  missionary  school,  teaching  them  the  word  of  life,  when 
I  was  hurried  back  to  know  that  I  have  yet  to  wait  for  that  time. 
But  it  vjill  &e,"  he  added  with  emphasis;  "I  shall  yet  labour  in  a 
heathen  land.     The  Lord  has  called  me,  and  I  have  laid  my  plans." 

If  his  plans  had  definite  relation  to  Africa,  they  were  disap- 
pointed. There  was  work  for  him  to  do  elsewhere.  A  letter  was 
published,  to  the  effect  that  a  company  of  Flathead  Indians,  delegated 
for  that  purpose,  had  come  from  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains  to 
St.  Louis,  a  journey  of  two  thousand  miles,  to  inquire  concerning 
the  God  of  the  white  man,  and  to  request  teachers  of  His  religion 
for  their  people.  This  report  was  very  much  exaggerated,  but  there 
was  enough  in  the  unadorned  facts  to  move  Christian  sympathy. 
They  came  on  no  such  errand,  but  on  their  way,  or  after  their  arri- 
val, heard  that  the  white  men  had  a  book  sent  from  God,  and  called 
on  the  Indian  Agent  at  St.  Louis  to  make  inquirj^  as  to  the  truth  of 
the  story,  and  to  learn  something  of  the  contents  of  the  revelation. 
The  intelligence  of  this  incident,  coloured  as  has  been  described, 
created  a  great  sensation,  and  Rev.  Messrs.  Jason  and  Daniel  Lee 
were  engaged  by  the  Missionary  Board  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  to  commence  a  mission  in  Oregon.  Mr.  Shepard's  name 
had  been  mentioned  in  reference  to  an  appointment  as  a  teacher  in 
Africa,  and  one  of  the  missionaries,  meeting  him  in  Boston,  confer- 
red with  him  on  the  Oregon  mission.  He  was  so  much  pleased  with 
Mr.  Shepard's  appearance  and  conversation  that  he  recommended 
him  as  a  member  of  their  missionary  circle,  and  in  accordance  with 


CYRUS    SHEPARD.  463 

this  suggestion  the  appointment  was  made.     His  journal,  under  date 
of  December  6th,  1833,  records  his  decision: 

"This  day  brothers  Lindsey  and  Lee  came  to  see  me  in  reference 
to  my  engaging  in  the  Flathead  Indian  mission.  After  some  con- 
versation I  agreed  to  go.  It  may  seem  to  some  that  I  was  precipitate 
in  making  up  my  mind  on  this  important  subject;  but  it  is  all  known 
to  myself  and  my  God.  For  more  than  seven  years  my  mind  has 
been  exercised  on  the  subject  of  missions;  and  a  conviction  has  been 
fixed  for  years,  that  duty  would  ultimately  require  that  I  should 
give  up  the  comforts  of  civilized  life,  and  spend  my  remaining  days 
in  a  heathen  land,  far  away  from  those  social  endearments  which 
render  earth,  in  a  measure,  a  paradise  to  the  true  Christian.  I  have 
endeavoured  to  count  the  cost,  and  after  a  careful,  and,  I  think,  thor- 
ough examination  of  the  privations,  difficulties  and  dangers  attend- 
ant on  a  missionary  life,  even  the  probabilities  of  death  itself  not 
excepted,  I  can  say  that,  by  the  assistance  of  divine  grace,  'none  of 
these  things  move  me,  neither  count  I  my  life  dear  to  me,'  so  that  I 
may  do  the  will  of  my  Heavenly  Father,  and  fulfil  his  work."  And 
to  a  friend  he  wrote,  recounting  his  long-cherished  impressions  of 
duty:  "My  prayer  has  been  that  Grod  would  open  the  way,  in  his 
providence,  and  that  I  might  be  directed  in  the  path  of  duty.  At 
times  my  soul  has  been  on  the  stretch  for  the  work,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  I  could  wait  no  longer:  the  way  at  other  times  has  been  closed 
up  in  an  unexpected  manner.  Sometimes  I  have  been  almost  ready 
to  despair  of  ever  entering  into  the  work  which  lay  so  near  my 
heart,  and  then  again  my  expectations  have  revived  with  increased 
vigour.  At  length  the  Lord  has,  I  trust,  in  his  own  time  and  man- 
ner, opened  the  way  before  me,  and  thus  far  has  smiled  upon  my 
every  effort  which  has  been  made  in  reference  to  the  mission.  In 
him  is  my  trust:  I  feel  I  can  lay  all  at  his  feet, — resign  my  friends 
and  every  dear  privilege  enjoyed  here  in  my  native  land,  and  go  at 
his  command,  trusting  in  his  righteous  providence  and  grace  to  carry 
me  through  a  long  and  wearisome  journey  in  the  wilderness,  and  to 
give  success  to  our  enterprise  in  the  place  of  our  destination." 

The  cheerfulness  with  which  he  set  out  on  his  errand  of  benevo- 
lence was  the  eflFect  of  anything  but  insensibility  to  the  sacrifices 
he  made.  Oregon  was  not  then,  as  now,  the  resort  of  enterprising 
emigrants.     It  was  fitly  employed  by  our  country's  greatest  poet  as 


464  CYRUS    SHEPARD. 

the  image  of  utter  solitude.*  The  Indians  peopling  the  further 
slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  in  point  of  degradation,  might  vie 
with  almost  any  heathen  brought  within  the  notice  and  range  of 
Christian  charity.  Mr.  Shepard  was  a  man  of  warm  and  constant 
attachments,  both  local  and  personal.  The  places  where  his  child- 
hood and  youth  had  been  passed  were  associated  with  his  purest 
recollections;  the  friends  of  his  youth  and  manhood  he  cherished 
with  a  warmth  of  affection  that  knew  no  abatement  from  time  or 
distance.  To  part  from  his  venerable  surviving  parent,  from  the 
large  circle  of  friendship  he  had  formed  in  his  employment  as  a 
teacher,  and,  above  all,  from  the  Sunday-school  that  had  so  long- 
engaged  his  efforts  and  prayers,  cost  him  a  degree  of  pain  not  easily 
to  be  conceived  by  minds  less  delicately  attuned  to  the  softest 
breathings  of  human  and  Christian  sympathy.  More  than  once 
he  found  his  utterance  fail  him  when  he  would  say  farewell, — the 
silent  tear  and  warm  grasp  of  the  hand  expressed  what  his  lips 
refused  to  speak. 

Mr.  Shepard  started  for  Oregon  on  the  4th  of  March,  1834.  He 
met  one  of  his  associates.  Rev.  Jason  Lee,  at  Cincinnati,  and  Rev. 
Daniel  Lee  at  St.  Louis.  Here  these  two  remained  to  make  further 
arrangements  for  their  journey  overland,  and  to  overtake  Mr.  Shep- 
ard at  Independence.  A  company,  under  command  of  Captain 
Wyeth,  was  under  march  for  the  Columbia  River,  and  the  mission 
family,  consisting  of  the  Messrs.  Lee,  Mr.  Shepard,  Mr.  Edwards,  a 
layman  from  Richmond,  Mo.,  and  Mr.  Walker,  who  was  engaged  for 
one  year  to  aid  in  the  establishment  of  the  mission,  travelled  in  his 
train.  Their  route,  though  now  rendered  familiar  to  the  public,  as 
a  high  road  of  emigration  to  the  Pacific  coast,  has  lost  none  of  its 
romance  and  little  of  its  difficulty.  From  Independence  they  pro- 
ceeded to  the  waters  of  the  Kanzas,  thence  nearly  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  to  the  Platte  River,  and  after  journeying  along  the  valley 
of  the  Platte  for  twenty-one  days  they  struck  the  Sweetwater,  by 
whose  deep  and  narrow  channel  they  were  guided  through  the  range 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  descended  towards  the  western  ocean. 
They  reached  Haine's  Fork,  a  branch  of  the  Colorado,  on  the  19th 
of  June,  and  rested  for  twelve  days.  From  this  point  they  trav- 
elled along  the  western  slope  of  the  mountains  to  the  valley  of  the 

*  Or  lose  thyself  in  the  continuous  woods, 
Where  rolls  the  Oregon,  and  hears  no  sound 
Save  his  own  dashings. — Bryant,  Thanatopsis. 


CYEUS    SHEPAED.  465 

Columbia,  and  on  the  15tli  of  September  arrived  at  Fort  Vancou- 
ver, the  principal  establishment  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company, 
having  travelled  one  hundred  and  five  days,  and  rested  in  camp 
thirty-five  daj'S,  since  their  departure  from  St.  Louis. 

The  original  destination  of  the  missionaries,  as  we  have  seen,  was 
to  labour  among  the  Flathead  Indians.  But  the  tribe  was  much 
smaller  than  had  been  supposed,  their  continual  wars  with  neigh- 
bouring ti'ibes  having  rapidly  thinned  their  numbers,  and  at  the 
same  time  made  a  residence  among  them  proportionally  insecure. 
Moreover,  their  remoteness  from  every  point  of  communication  with 
civilized  men,  involving  the  necessity  of  transporting  all  supplies 
for  the  mission  several  hundred  miles,  and  the  hazard  of  frequent 
destitution,  appeared  a  sufficient  reason  for  deviating  from  their 
original  intention.  By  settling  in  the  valley  of  the  Willamette,  they 
avoided  these  inconveniences,  and,  what  was  of  more  importance, 
had  access  to  a  larger  number  of  Indians.  For  these  reasons  the 
company  selected  a  station  in  that  valley,  leaving  Mr.  Shepard  at 
Fort  Vancouver  to  await  their,  preparations  for  active  service.  Here 
he  remained  till  the  spring  of  1835. 

His  residence  at  Fort  Vancouver  was  anything  but  a  period  of 
idleness.  There  was  no  regular  preaching  there.  The  chief  factor, 
Dr.  McLaughlin,  being  a  Eoman  Catholic,  there  was  a  chapel  for 
occasional  worship  according  to  that  ritual  within  the  enclosure. 
The  service  of  the  Church  of  England  was  read  on  Sundays  by  the 
second  officer  in  command.  During  Mr.  Shepard's  wearisome  jour- 
ney he  had  contrasted  their  secluded  occasions  of  social  prayer  with 
the  full  measure  of  Christian  privileges  he  gave  up  at  Lynn,  but  in 
the  solitude  of  the  fort,  with  the  destitution  of  congenial  society, 
his  mind  reverted  sadly  to  the  Sabbaths  he  enjoyed  in  camp  on  the 
Kanzas,  the  Platte  and  the  Columbia.  But  he  gave  way  to  no  mur- 
murs or  repinings.  Girding  himself  with  strength  in  the  exercise 
of  secret  devotion,  he  found  occupation  for  his  active  powers  in 
teaching  a  school  of  about  thirty  children,  French  and  Indian  half- 
breeds.  By  a  singular  providence  he  had  also  under  his  charge 
three  Japanese  youth.  They  had  been  wrecked  on  the  coast,  and 
held  in  slavery  by  the  Indians,  from  which  they  were  ransomed  by 
Dr.  McLaughlin.  They  found  means  to  disclose  their  situation  by 
sending  to  the  Fort  a  drawing  on  China  paper  of  a  junk  on  the  rocks 
plundered  by  Indians,  with  three  persons  in  captivity.  Inquiries 
30 


466  CYKUS    SHEPAED. 

were  made,  the  place  of  tlieir  detention  was  discovered,  and  they 
were  brought  to  the  fort.* 

Ko  better  preparation  for  his  future  employment  could  have  been 
enjoj'ed  by  Mr.  Shepard,  than  these  engagements  afforded.  The 
character  of  his  pupils,  so  different  from  any  he  had  before  taught, 
called  into  exercise  much  of  that  patience  and  sympathy,  that  tact 
and  discrimination,  so  much  needed  in  communicating  instruction 
to  savages.  It  was  an  intermediate  sphere,  by  pausing  in  which  for 
a  time,  the  abruptness  of  a  descent  from  a  New-England  school-room 
to  his  intended  labours  on  the  Willamette  was  sensibly  diminished. 
The  value  of  this  to  a  mind  so  sensitive  as  his  is  not  easily  esti- 
mated. In  a  letter  to  a  friend,  after  recounting  some  of  his  trials 
in  the  journey  and  after  his  arrival,  he  says:  "When  I  reflect  upon 
the  sufferings  of  our  Lord  in  the  days  of  his  flesh,  to  save  rebel- 
lious man,  not  having  where  to  lay  his  head,  I  blush  to  think  that  / 
have  endured  either  privation  or  suffering,  I  wish  to  spend  the 
remainder  of  my  days  in  doing  good,  according  to  the  grace  of  God 
given  to  me.  I  am  as  willing  my  body  should  lie  with  that  of  the  red 
man  in  this  region,  when  the  spirit  shall  have  returned  to  God  who 
gave  it,  as  that  it  should  sleep  with  kindred  dust.  The  miserable 
condition  of  these  poor  Indians  deeply  impresses  my  heart;  and 
can  I  but  be  instrumental  in  ameliorating  their  condition  in  any 
degree,  my  life  shall  be  cheerfully  spent,  and  my  tenement  of  clay 
worn  down  in  their  service.  I  thank  God  that  I  have  been  permit- 
ted to  come  thus  far,  with  a  desire  for  their  salvation.  I  bless  him 
for  having  caused  me  to  feel  the  burden  of  their  souls.  It  is  my 
earnest  prayer,  that  my  small  spark  of  missionary  zeal  may  be  kin- 
dled to  a  flame  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  henceforth  stimulate  me  to 
more  vigorous  exertions  to  save  souls." 

It  ought  not  to  be  omitted  that  by  his  residence  at  Fort  Vancou- 
ver, he  did  the  mission  an  essential  service  in  attracting  to  himself 
the  esteem  of  the  officers  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  They 
appreciated  the  excellence  of  his  character,  and  were  conciliated 
to  the  object  of  his  pursuit.  From  their  influence  over  the 
Indians,  it  was  in  their  power,  and  they  showed  themselves  dis- 
posed, to  promote  the  purposes  of  the  mission  in  various  ways. 
So  that  besides  the  direct  influence  for  good  he  was  able  to  exert 

*  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  sent  them  to  England,  whence  they  took  passagu 
lor  China,  tliere  to  await  some  means  of  transportation  to  their  native  country. 


CYRUS    SHEPARD.  4,67 

during  his  sojourn  there,  he  had  evidence  that  he  was  indirectly 
advancing  his  main  errand. 

While  thus  occupied,  his  associates  had  selected  an  eligible  sta- 
tion in  the  Willamette  Valley,  and  with  much  toil  had  erected  a  rude 
log  house  for  their  dwelling  and  school.  Their  planks  and  boards 
were  riven  from  logs,  the  doors  swung  on  wooden  hinges,  their 
window-sashes  were  whittled  out,  and  their  furniture  was  the  work 
of  their  own  hands,  constructed  from  the  same  unpromising  mate-, 
rials.  Eude  and  unsightly  as  it  was,  the  purposes  for  which  it  was 
framed  gave  to  the  structure  a  higher  beauty  than  belongs  to  any 
architectural  expression,  and  the  spirit  in  which  its  occupants  toiled, 
made  its  scanty  accommodations  more  satisfying  than  the  most  lux- 
urious splendours. 

Mr.  Shepard  joined  them  in  the  spring  of  1835,  and  addressed 
himself  to  his  task.  For  the  first  two  or  three  years,  much  attention 
was  necessarily  given  to  clearing  the  land  and  other  secular  cares; 
but  he  gathered  a  school,  beginning  with  five  children,  which  in 
two  years  increased  to  more  than  thirty.  Some  adults  also  attended 
more  or  less  regularly  on  the  Sabbath-school.  Several  new  mis- 
sionaries* arrived  in  1837,  and  two  new  stations  were  founded. 
Efforts  were  made,  with  partial  success,  to  induce  the  Indians  to 
engage  in  agriculture  and  improve  their  habits  of  living.  But,  in 
1839,  things  assumed  a  more  cheering  aspect  in  regard  to  spiritual 
progress.  An  old  Indian  doctor  came  to  a  gradual  perceptioa  of 
the  truths  of  Christianity,  and  a  great  change  was  wrought  in  his 
character,  giving  proof  that  he  was  made  wise  to  salvation.  The 
work  spread.  Inquirers  were  multiplied,  insomuch  that  all  other 
labours  were  interrupted  to  give  needful  attention  to  them,  and  the 
work  did  not  cease  till  the  hopeful  converts  were  numbered  by 
hundreds,  scattered  over  a  large  extent  of  country. 

Mr.  Shepard  was  naturally  much  interested  in  this  success,  but 
his  chief  labours  were  in  the  school,  which  claimed  from  him  a 
degree  and  kind  of  attention  that  would  have  been  a  task  to  one 
less  humble  and  devoted  to  the  good  of  his  pupils.  They  were  a 
poor,  degraded  set  of  creatures,  of  coarse  features,  some  of  them 
wilfully  deformed  according  to  the  savage  customs  of  the  people, 
or  through  disease.     Their  manners  were  as  coarse  as  their  faces, 

*  To  one  of  these,  Miss  Susan  Downing,  a  former  acquaintance  of  Mr.  ShepaH 
in  Lynn,  he  was  mariied,  about  two  months  after  her  arrival. 


468  CYRUS    SHEPARD.' 

they  were  slow  to  learn,  and  generally  the  reverse  of  interesting. 
But  if  they  had  been  as  lovely  as  the  fairest  inmates  of  a  New  Eng- 
land school,  they  could  not  have  more  attracted  the  earnest  sym- 
pathy and  care  of  their  teacher.  Besides  their  lessons,  they  had  to 
be  clothed  by  the  mission  family,  and,  indeed,  every  thing  pertain- 
ing to  personal  neatness,  and  the  whole  care  of  their  health,  their 
labours  and  their  recreations,  fell  upon  their  benevolent  guardians. 
Some  were  Flatheads,  their  skulls  compressed  in  infancy  till  they 
retreated  rapidly  to  a  narrow  point,  their  features  distorted,  their 
whole  appearance  repulsive;  yet  Mr.  Shepard  overcame  the  feeling. 
"We  love  them  very  much,"  he  wrote  to  a  former  pupil,  "and  they 
love  us.  Those  of  them  who  are  full-blooded  Indians  have  very 
flat  heads.  They  would  appear  very  strange  to  you;  but  we  have 
become  so  accustomed  to  the  sight  that  we  do  not  mind  it  so  much." 
For  the  first  two  or  three  years  the  missionaries  endured  many 
hardships,  but  they  never  grudged  the  care  of  these  poor  children. 
Their  coarse  fare  and  scanty  accommodations  were  shared  freely, 
and  with  a  cheerful  warmth  of  affection  which  won  the  hearts  of  all. 

But  the  main  care  was  for  their  spiritual  interests,  and  in  this 
respect  Mr.  Shepard  found  an  ample  reward.  The  first  indication 
that  his  instructions  were  taking  root,  appeared  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1837,  when  an  unusual  interest  in  personal  religion  was  shown 
by  several  of  the  children,  and  six  shortly  made  a  good  profession 
of  their  faith.  Others  followed,  and  the  humble  school-room  was 
vocal  \vith  prayer  and  praise.  The  happiness  experienced  by  those 
self-denying  labourers,  and  especially  by  him  to  whom  the  school 
was  more  immediately  committed,  cannot  be  described.  That  which 
causes  "joy  in  the  presence  of  the  angels,"  transcends  the  force  of 
human  language. 

To  do  entire  justice  to  Mr.  Shepard's  labours  and  sacrifices,  it 
should  be  stated  that  he  struggled  continually  against  bodily  weak- 
ness. He  was  much  afflicted  through  life  with  scrofula,  inducing  a 
general  weakness  that  was  naturally  accompanied  at  times  by  a 
morbid  despondency.  But  he  had  none  of  the  disposition  cher- 
ished by  many  Christians,  to  make  his  discharge  of  duty  condi- 
tioned on  the  agreeableness  of  his  feelings.  It  was  no  part  of  his 
religion  to  do  good  merely  when  it  was  altogether  pleasant  and  easy 
to  do  it.  If  it  had  been,  he  would  never  have  set  foot  in  Oregon 
a.s  a  missionary.  There  were  times  on  his  long  journey  between 
the  Mississippi  and  Columbia,  when  languor  and  pain  depressed  hid 


CYRUS    SHEPARD.  469 

spirit,  but  though  weary  and  sometimes  lonely,  he  had  too  long 
walked  by  faith  to  suffer  these  things  to  move  him  from  his  stead- 
fastness. In  1838,  his  disease  attacked  his  right  knee.  His  sujEfer- 
ings  were  acute,  and  the  remedies  used  were  as  painful  as  the  dis- 
ease, but  so  long  as  he  could  keep  from  his  bed,  he  was  at  his  post 
in  the  school-room,  forgetting  himself  in  his  interest  for  the  youth 
gathered  round  him.  In  the  fall  of  1839,  he  was  so  far  prostrated 
that  he  was  compelled  to  give  over  his  work.  Still,  when  he  could 
do  nothing  else,  he  sat  bolstered  up  in  bed,  and  busied  his  hands  in 
making  caps  for  the  boys.  All  remedies  failing  to  give  relief, 
amputation  was  resorted  to.  The  operation  was  painful,  and  the 
more  difficult  to  be  supported  from  the  shattered  state  of  his  gen- 
eral sj'stem,  but  he  never  murmured;  patience  sealed  his  lips, 
except  as  they  were  parted  now  and  then  to  exclaim,  "  God  is  goodP'' 
He  lay  helpless,  but  ever  ready  to  utter  sentiments  of  gratitude  and 
praise,  till  the  morning  of  New-Year's-day,  1840,  when  he  resigned 
his  spirit  to  Him  whose  he  was,  and  whom  he  had  so  faithfully  served. 

Mr,  Shepard,  it  must  not  be  supposed,  attained  to  the  excellence 
which  his  maturer  years  disclosed,  without  much  exertion  and 
severe  self-discipline.  No  one  ever  does.  A  sensitive  mind  united 
to  a  frail  body,  he  was  quickly  susceptible  to  crosses  and  disappoint- 
ments, and  Avas  sometimes  prone  to  hasty  words,  but  he  watched 
and  restrained  his  constitutional  faults — never  indulged  or  palliated 
them.  His  Christian  course  was  a  warfare,  but  it  had  the  promise 
of  victory,  which  he  lived  to  win  through  grace.  He  was  thor- 
oughly simple,  guileless,  transparent,  winning  confidence  by  the 
plain  sincerity  always  noticeable  in  his  demeanour.  His  humility 
was  deep  and  unaffected,  and  his  faith,  in  a  consciousness  of  his 
own  weakness,  took  the  firmer  hold  on  that  strength  which  is  made 
perfect  in  weakness.  Through  faith  and  patience  he  inherited  the 
promises,  and  he  rested  on  them  and  felt  able  to  plead  them  with 
assured  confidence.  Hence,  whatever  personal  trials  hedged  up  his 
path  at  times,  he  never  doubted  as  to  the  success  of  his  labours,  for 
he  attempted  them  in  concert  with  a  Power  that  is  irresistible, 
prompted  by  Love  all-pervading  as  the  divine  essence. 

His  faith  was  that  which  '■^loorlceth  by  love."  It  was  as  far  as 
possible  removed  from  indolent  expectation.  That  God  wrought 
in  him,  he  was  well  persuaded,  and  therefore  he  worked  with  his 
might.     What  his  hand  found  to  do,  he  did,  and  he  found  a  great 


470  CYRUS    SlIEPARU. 

reward.  This  is  tlie  lesson  of  his  life, — that  without  eminent  gifts 
or  great  advantages, — with  nothing  more  of  natural  or  acquired 
ability  than  thousands  possess,  who  are  contented  to  live  after  the 
most  commonplace  standard  admitted  by  society, — it  is  possible  to 
be  eminently  useful  to  the  church,  and  the  world,  to  contribute  to 
the  redemption  of  man,  to  the  happiness  of  heaven,  and  to  the 
glory  of  the  Lord. 


/r/f^  i^>^^ 


%. 


WILLIAM    HEPBURN    HEWITSON- 


William  Hepburn  Hewitson,  a  principal  actor  in  a  movement 
which  has  been  called  "the  greatest  fact  in  modern  missions," — a 
distinction,  the  exact  justice  of  which  we  will  not  moot,  though  a 
great  fact  it  undoubtedly  is — was  born  at  Culroj,  in  the  parish  of 
May  bole,  in  Ayrshire,  Scotland,  September  16,  1812.  His  physical 
constitution  was  delicate,  but  that  fragile  tenement  lodged  a  most 
aspiring  soul.  When  a  little  boy,  he  used  to  say  that  he  would  be 
either  a  minister  or  a  king.  Of  royalty  he  had  no  distinct  notions, 
but  his  early  religious  education  made  him  more  familiar  with  the 
ministerial  function,  at  least  in  its  outward  forms,  and  with  the 
language  of  scriptural  piety. 

Such  as  grave  livers  do  in  Scotland  use. 

A  chair  for  a  pulpit  and  his  sisters  for  an  audience,  one  of  them 
acting  the  precentor,  supplied  him  with  the  needed  apparatus  for 
experimenting  on  his  alternative  object  of  ambition,  and  he  exulted 
in  being  able  to  move  his  little  congregation  to  tears  by  the  energy  of 
his  declamation.  After  five  or  six  years  in  England,  his  father  was 
appointed  in  1825  parochial  teacher  of  Dalmellington,  and  he  returned 
to  his  native  Ayrshire.  He  was  a  prodigious  reader  in  a  desultory 
way,  but  he  now  gave  himself  to  a  more  systematic  course  of  study, 
in  which  he  made  remarkable  progress.  He  went  his  own  way  to 
work,  and  made  his  own  way.  He  gained  by  solitary  and  unaided 
exertion  an  unusual  mastery  of  Greek  and  Latin,  pored  into  Hebrew 
and  French,  and  into  ancient  and  modern  history. 

Feeble  health,  doubtless  aggravated  by  intense  application,  pre- 
vented him  from  entering  at  once  on  the  career  he  ardently  expected, 
but  in  1833  he  entered  the  university  of  Edinburgh.  The  competi- 
tion was  eager,  the  combatants  for  academic  honours  were  the  flower 
of  the  principal  Edinburgh  schools,  but  at  the  close  of  his  second 
session  "the  self-taught  country  lad"  distanced  all,  and  bore  off  the 


472  vr.   II.  iiEW'iTsoN. 

palm  both  in  the  classics  and  in  logic.  In  both,  his  attainments  were 
not  only  brilliant,  but  thorough.  He  was  not  content  to  translate, 
decline  and  conjugate  the  classic  authors,  but,  going  beyond  verbal 
analysis  and  textual  subtleties,  he  read  and  digested  them.  He  both 
acquired  the  art  and  the  capacity  of  reasoning,  and  showed  a  force 
and  fruitfulness  of  thought  that  exceeded  the  expectations  of  his 
best  friends.  This  was  abundantly  shown  after  completing,  in  1837, 
his  university  course  in  the  arts,  by  an  essay  "on  the  Nature,  Causes 
and  Effects  of  National  Character,"  a  theme  proposed  for  a  university 
prize.  It  received  the  offered  award,  and  Professor  Wilson  solicited 
its  publication.  A  little  while  before,  so  flattering  a  request  would 
have  been  complied  with  at  once,  but  a  change  had  already  come 
over  the  student's  mind.  He  was  roused  from  his  dreams  of  fame 
by  remorse  for  the  Godless,  soul-destroying  selfishness  of  his  ambi- 
tion. He  had  looked  forward  through  all  his  course  to  the  Christian 
ministry;  he  felt  that  he  was  without  the  needful  preparation  of 
spirit;  nay,  that  in  his  insane  pursuit  of  applause, — for  such  it  now 
appeared — he  had  done  himself  all  but  fatal  injury.  Thenceforth 
he  essayed  to  enter  on  a  new  course,  to  deny  himself  and  his  worldly 
desires,  and  to  give  himself  in  all  humility  to  his  sacred  calling. 

In  November,  1838,  he  entered  the  Divinity  Hall  of  Edinburgh, 
then  presided  over  by  Dr.  Chalmers.  With  seriousness  and  gravity, 
subduing  but  not  suppressing  his  scholarly  enthusiasm,  he  gave  all 
diligence  to  master  the  heights  of  theological  and  biblical  lore. 
But  with  all  his  earnestness  he  was  yet  a  stranger  to  the  simplicity 
of  the  gospel,  and  it  was  not  till  the  lapse  of  about  two  years,  and 
after  severe  wrestlings  with  unbelieving  self-righteousness,  that  he 
found  the  peace  and  rest  of  genuine  faith.  The  change  was  great. 
lie  had  been  known  as  a  profound  scholar,  a  sober  and  strict  student 
in  divinity,  exemplary  in  his  behaviour,  and  giving  promise  of  unu- 
sual power  and  brilliancy.  He  was  now,  beside  and  above  these,  a 
devoted  servant  of  Christ,  desiring  to  follow  his  Lord  in  all  things, 
counting  it  most  blessed  "to  have  an  ear  deaf  to  the  world's  music, 
but  all  awake  to  Him  who  is  'the  chief  among  ten  thousand,  and  alto- 
gether lovely.'"  The  distinctions  he  had  sought  with  such  ardour, 
and  which,  he  believed,  were  a  snare  to  his  soul,  he  renounced,  and 
even  sold  his  university  medal, — an  act  which  may  have  been  wise, 
but  we  must  think  was  by  no  means  a  self-evident  duty. 

His  severe  and  protracted  studies  had  effected  his  body  as  well  as 
his  soul.     Indeed,  he  was  imprudent  to  the  last  degree,  and  in  the 


W.  H.   HEWITSON.  473 

spring  of  1841  found  it  necessary  to  seek  relaxation  by  going  into 
Fifeshire  as  a  private  tutor.  While  here,  he  was  laid  low  by  a  fever, 
soon  after  recovering  from  which,  symptoms  of  incipient  pulmonary 
disease  warned  him  that  his  hold  on  life  could  only  be  retained  by 
the  utmost  care.  The  now  sainted  McCheyne  had  long  desired  him 
as  a  colleague  in  the  pastoral  office,  and  he  desired  no  better  station ; 
but  it  was  not  so  to  be.  He  was  licensed  in  the  spring  of  1842,  and 
in  June  went  to  Bonn,  in  Germany,  as  the  invited  companion  of  a 
peer  who  proposed  a  temporary  residence  there.  An  inflammatory 
attack  brought  him  to  the  verge  of  the  grave,  and  in  September  he 
retraced  his  steps  homeward.  Here  he  remained  till  the  autumn 
of  1844,  in  a  state  of  strict  seclusion,  unable,  in  the  opinion  of  his 
phj^sicians,  to  preach  with  safety,  but  inwardly  strengthening  him- 
self for  what  awaited  him,*  His  letters  show  that  he  drank  deeply 
of  the  wells  of  salvation,  entered  more  intimately  than  ever  into 
the  spirit  of  his  blessed  Master,  and  was  ripening  for  most  effective 
service,  should  he  be  permitted  to  serve  in  the  church,  and  for  the 
most  exquisite  enjoj^ments  of  Paradise,  should  he  be  soon  removed 
thither.  He  was  ordained,  November  6,  1844,  by  the  (Free  Church) 
Presbytery  of  Edinburgh,  and  appointed  as  a  missionary  to  the  Por- 
tuguese of  Madeira,  a  hazardous  service,  but  one  from  which  he  was 
not  the  man  to  shrink.  His  destination  having  been  incautiously 
announced  in  a  newspaper,  he  thought  it  best  to  go  first  to  Lisbon, 
where  he  arrived  early  in  December.  AVith  an  ease  that  attests  the 
native  vigour  and  thorough  training  of  his  mind,  he  mastered  the 
Portuguese  language  in  about  two  months,  and  in  February  set  sail 
for  Madeira. 

This  island,  from  its  salubrity  much  resorted  to  by  invalids,  con- 
tains a  population  of  one  hundred  and  twelve  thousand,  of  a  race 
apparently  mixed  of  Portuguese  and  Moors, — more  athletic  and 
comely  than  the  Portuguese,  but  ignorant,  and,  until  lately,  held 
contentedly  by  a  superstition  that  exerted  a  stronger  repressive  force 
on  the  intellect  and  conscience  than  on  the  passions.  This,  which 
is  true  of  Romanism  every  where,  was  especially  true  in  Madeira. 

*  In  this  process  we  do  not  include  his  millenarian  speculations,  which  he  enthusi- 
astically prosecuted.  Without  affirming  that  such  a  result  is  necessary — for  it  did 
not  appear  in  his  case  or  that  of  Henry  Fox — it  is  certain  that  in  many  minds  such 
opinions  cut  the  sinews  of  missionary  effort,  and  exert  anything  but  a  favourable 
iiilluence  on  Christian  character. 


474  W.   H.    HEWITSON. 

From  tlie  number  of  foreign  residents,  an  Episcopal  and  a  Presby- 
terian Churcli  existed  at  Funchal,  but  nothing  was  done  for  the 
natives  till  about  1838,  when  Dr.  Kalley,  a  pious  English  physician, 
commenced  distributing  the  Bible  and  holding  meetings  for  religious 
conference  in  his  house.  In  1840  the  interest  of  the  people  in  the 
Scriptures  had  so  much  increased  that  many  adults  went  to  school 
that  they  might  learn  to  read  the  Bible.  Soon  the  meetings  had 
to  be  held  in  the  open  air.  For  several  months  in  1842,  from  one 
thousand  to  three  thousand  assembled,  and  once  they  were  reckon  d 
at  five  thousand.  The  great  truths  of  redemption,  of  peace  iu 
believing  and  the  hope  of  glory,  became  in  some  places  topics  of 
common  conversation  in  the  fields  and  highways. 

The  ecclesiastical  authorities  now  bestirred  themselves.  A  pas- 
toral was  issued,  describing  the  Bible  as  "a  book  from  hell,"  and 
threatening  with  excommunication  all  who  should  read  it.  An  order 
was  promulgated  suppressing  the  schools,  a  number  of  which  Dr.  Kal- 
ley had  instituted,  that  the  people  might  read  the  Scriptures  for  them- 
selves. Two  persons  only  had  openly  renounced  popery,  and  received 
the  communion  at  the  Presbyterian  church.  They  were  excommu- 
nicated. Dr.  Kalley  was  forbidden  to  speak  on  religious  subjects. 
The  order  was  illegal,  contrary  to  the  charter  of  Portugal,  and  he 
paid  no  attention  to  it.  Then  the  people  were  forbidden  to  hear  him, 
and  many  poor  persons  were  imprisoned  or  beaten  for  so  doing.  A 
wealthy  gentleman  at  once  broke  the  order,  to  test  its  legality.  He 
was  prosecuted,  and  the  court  decided  that  no  person  could  be  hin- 
dered from  entering  another's  house  with  the  owner's  consent.  Dr. 
Kalley  was  prosecuted,  but  discharged,  no  illegal  act  having  been 
proved  against  him.  The  magistrate  having  left  the  island,  another 
functionary  arbitrarily  reversed  the  sentence,  and  he  was  imprisoned 
six  months. 

In  the  summer  of  1844,  as  if  to  make  their  baseness  conspicuous 
in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world,  Mrs.  Maria  Joachina  Alves  was  torn 
from  a  family  of  seven  children  to  answer  a  charge  of  apostasy, 
heresy  and  blasphemy.  The  test  of  guilt  was  simple.  She  was  asked 
if  she  believed  "the  consecrated  host  to  be  the  real  body  and  real 
blood  and  the  human  soul  and  divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,"  and  assured 
that  her  life  depended  on  the  answer.  Pausing  a  moment,  she  calmly 
replied,  "I  do  not  believe  it."  Sentence  of  death  was  immediately 
passed.  The  sentence  was  set  aside  on  account  of  a  technical  inform- 
ality in  the  wording  of  it;  but  the  court  at  Lisbon,  in  communicating 


W.   H.    HEWITSON.  475 

their  decision,  distinctly  stated  that  but  for  this  error  of  the  judge 
the  punishment  would  have  been  certainly  executed, — an  avowal 
of  their  readiness  to  shed  blood  at  the  dictation  of  the  priesthood, 
which  is  commended  to  the  consideration  of  those  who  affirm  that 
popery  has  changed  with  the  lapse  of  time.* 

The  public  papers  denounced  Dr.  Kalley  in  the  most  intemperate 
manner,  even  recommending  his  assassination;  it  was  observed  that 
the  cudgel  would  be  a  forcible  argument  with  the  country  people, 
and  a  repetition  of  St.  Bartholomew's  day  or  the  Sicilian  Vespers 
was  hinted  at.  The  authorities  took  no  notice  of  these  threats,  and 
thus  emboldened  their  authors  to  perpetrate  the  worst  outrages. 
Persons  were  stoned  and  cruelly  beaten,  houses  were  burned,  fami- 
lies were  refused  places  of  burial  except  in  the  highway,  and  bodies 
deposited  there  were  taken  up  and  burned  by  direction  of  the  police. 
In  one  parish  fifty  soldiers  were  quartered,  and  suffered  to  go  all 
lengths  in  plunder  and  violence.  Twenty-two  men  and  women  were 
transported  to  Funchal,  and  there  confined  in  prison  without  any 
allowance  of  food.  Their  sufferings  were  great,  but,  like  the  "pris- 
oners of  the  Lord"  in  Philippi,  they  "prayed  and  sang  praises"  in 
the  midst  of  their  enemies.  This  was  not  to  be  endured,  and  they 
were  silenced.  Mass,  which  had  never  been  said  for  the  benefit  of 
other  prisoners,  was  now  observed  with  carefulness,  and  these  per- 
sons were  dragged  to  chapel,  and  forced  upon  their  knees  before  the 
host.  For  refusing  to  perform  idolatrous  rites,  some  were  thrust  into 
a  filthy  dungeon.  After  an  imprisonment  of  twenty  months,  they 
were  tried  and  acquitted,  but  not  discharged  till  they  paid  jail  fees 
for  their  inhuman  and  illegal  detention.  The  narrative  of  Dr.  Kal- 
■  ley  is  a  recital  of  cruelty  and  baseness,  perpetrated  in  the  name  of 
religion,  to  which  it  is  not  easy  to  find  a  parallel. 

The  Portuguese  government,  in  clear  violation  of  the  charter,  took 
sides  with  the  persecutors.  Dr.  Kalley  was  warned  by  Lord  Aber 
deen  that  he  would  not  be  supported  by  the  British  government, — ■ 
a  determination  not  very  honourable  to  his  lordship  and  his  col- 
leagues; for  surely  as  long  as  a  British  subject  did  not  transgress 
the  laws  of  Portugal,  he  had  a  claim  to  protection  against  imprison- 
ment and  violence.  In  these  circumstances,  the  opportune  arrival 
of  Mr.  Hewitson  enabled  him  to  resign  the  work  into  the  hands  of 

*  Especially  when  taken  in  connection  with  avowals  of  Archbishop  Hughes,  of  0. 
A.  Brownson,  and  leading  Romanists  in  France. 


470  W.   H.    HEWITSON. 

one  having  every  qualification  for  its  successful  prosecution,  and 
wjio  was  prepared  to  brave  any  extremity  of  danger  for  Christ's 
sake.  The  peril  was  indeed  extreme,  the  enemy  was  thoroughly 
aroused,  but  he  had  the  true  spirit  of  John  Knox.  He  feared  not 
the  face  of  clay. 

At  the  period  of  Mr.  Hewitson's  arrival  only  twenty-two  persons 
had  renounced  popery,  but  a  large  number  were  earnestly  searching 
the  Scriptures  and  seeking  the  way  of  life.  He  commenced  holding 
conferences  in  a  private  apartment.  Small  numbers  only  were 
encouraged  to  come  at  once,  lest  an  alarm  should  be  prematurely 
raised.  The  converts  desired  to  receive  the  Lord's  Supper,  which 
was  first  administered  in  March,  1845,  with  great  secresy,  to  thirty- 
four  persons.  The  priests  detected  his  proceedings,  and  became 
vigilant.  The  meetings  were  discontinued,  and  instead  of  them  the 
people  were  invited  to  come  by  two's  and  three's.  Their  thirst  for 
instruction  was  affecting,  and  persons  would  often  anxiously  inquire 
when  their  turn  would  come.  It  was  a  most  laborious  method,  try- 
ing to  the  patience  and  exhausting  to  both  body  and  mind ;  but, 
though  phj'sically  weak,  Mr.  Hewitson  gave  himself  to  his  tasks  with 
all  his  heart.  The  number  of  communicants  soon  increased  to  sixty. 
In  May  the  police  watched  his  house  so  strictly  that  he  was  compel- 
led to  suspend  most  of  his  labours  for  a  time.  The  cloud  grew 
darker.  The  Bishop  of  Madeira  avowed  a  determination  to  seize 
all  the  Bibles  on  the  island.  Several  persons  were  examined  by 
the  magistrates  as  to  his  teachings,  but  enough  was  not  extracted 
from  them  to  afford  plausible  grounds  for  prosecution,  and  in  June 
the  meetings  were  resumed,  with  great  caution.  Five  converts  were 
imprisoned,  however,  and  notice  was  given  that  all  persons  who 
should  not  appear  at  church  and  confession  would  be  proceeded 
against. 

In  August  he  was  formally  served  with  a  process  prohibiting  him 
from  holding  religious  meetings.  He  complied  for  a  short  time,  and 
meanwhile  wrote  to  the  Colonial  Committee  of  the  Free  Church  for 
advice.  Should  the  work,  which  the  Lord  had  so  abundantly  pros- 
pered, be  now  suspended?  "I  may  have  been  violating  Portuguese 
laws,"  he  writes,  "but  I  have  been  obeying  the  law  of  Christ,  whose 
sole  supremacy  over  the  church  in  Portugal,  as  well  as  in  Scotland, 
and  whose  prerogatives  as  King  of  kings,  no  human  legislature  or 
court  of  justice  is  competent  to  set  aside.  The  only  commission 
which  the  minister  of  the  gospel  absolutely  requires,  is  that  which 


W.   H.    HEWITSON.  477 

bears  the  seal  of  Jesus:  'All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and 
in  earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations.'  Who,  in  heaven 
or  in  earth,  can  nullify  this  commission?".  .  ,  "Such  considerations 
arise  in  my  mind  in  connection  with  my  present  circumstances;  but 
I  don't  yet  see  clearly  what  course  should  be  adopted  as  the  most 
scriptural.  To  continue  my  labours,  in  any  degree,  much  longer, 
will  inevitably  subject  me  to  the  threatened  prosecution.  Yet  I 
cannot  see  it  to  be  my  duty,  on  this  account,  to  abandon  them  alto- 
gether. When  the  risk  of  being  apprehended  is  more  imminent,  I 
might  flee  from  the  island,  but  I  am  not  certain  that  such  a  step 
"would  be  consistent  with  entire  faithfulness  to  Christ." 

He  resumed  his  meetings  under  cover  of  night.  What  his  ene- 
mies might  have  done  at  this  crisis  is  uncertain,  but  he  was  seized 
with  a  dangerous  illness,  which  confined  him  for  five  weeks,  and  left 
him  much  weakened  for  a  considerable  time.  On  his  recovery,  per- 
ceiving that  dangers  thickened  round  his  head,  he  changed  his  resi- 
dence, and  at  the  same  time  adopted  a  new  expedient.  The  good 
work,  he  found,  was  making  a  silent  progress  by  the  agency  of  little 
meetings,  where  two  or  three  gathered  together  for  reading  the 
Scriptures  and  for  edifying  conversation.  He  now  gathered  a  class 
of  sixteen  promising  young  men,  whom  he  carefully  instructed,  that 
they  might  be  qualified  to  serve  as  catechists;  so  that  in  case  he 
was  driven  from  the  island,  the  word  of  God  might  not  be  bound  or 
the  progress  of  truth  seriously  hindered.  But  he  could  not  be  kept 
back  from  more  direct  efforts,  and  preached  every  week,  shifting 
his  assemblies  from  place  to  place,  to  elude  observation.  All  effort 
was,  however,  vain.  The  bishop  urged  the  magistrates  to  action, 
•  perseverance  would  only  precipitate  the  blow,  and  he  finally  decided 
to  leave  the  island,  hoping  that  his  absence  for  a  few  months  might 
in  some  measure  restore  quiet.  He  accordingly  announced  his  pur- 
pose, and  remained  only  long  enough  to  take  his  class  of  catechists 
through  the  course  of  study  originally  proposed,  and  in  May,  1846, 
he  returned  to  Scotland. 

The  dreaded  persecution  soon  came  with  unrestrained  fury.  On 
Sunday  morning,  August  2d,  as  thirty  or  forty  of  the  converts 
"were  assembled  at  the  dwelling  of  an  English  family  to  hear  a  pas- 
toral letter  from  Mr.  Hewitson,  a  mob,  instigated  by  one  of  the 
canons  of  the  cathedral,  besieged  the  house  till  midnight.  By  this 
time  money  and  liquor  had  wrought  them  up  to  the  desired  pitch 
of  excitement,  and  they  began  breaking  the  windows  and  beating  at 


478  W.    H.    HEWITSON. 

the  door.  On  being  warned  of  the  illegal  character  of  their  pro- 
ceedings, they  shouted,  "There  are  no  laws  for  Calvinists!"  and 
resumed  the  attack.  The  doors  were  forced  and  the  rabble  entered. 
The  police  had  remained  inactive  for  hours,  and  came  at  last,  doubt- 
less expecting  that  the  murderous  enterprise  was  accomplished.  But 
the  intended  victims  had  only  just  been  discovered,  and  one  of  them 
knocked  down  with  a  bludgeon.  Two  of  the  mob  were  carried  to 
prison,  and  the  inmates  of  the  house  were  left  in  security. 

A  week  later  Dr.  Kalley  overheard  the  soldiers  who  had  been  set 
to  guard  his  house,  with  some  men  in  masks,  concerting  his  murder 
on  the  morrow.  No  time  was  to  be  lost.  Disguising  himself  as  a 
peasant,  he  concealed  himself  in  the  house  of  a  friend.  Mrs.  Kalley, 
on  her  way  to  the  same  shelter  the  next  morning,  heard  their  fate 
openly  talked  about  in  the  street.  "  Those  who  are  in  that  house," 
said  one  to  another,  "will  need,  to-day,  to  be  sure  of  salvation." 
About  noon,  at  the  conclusion  of  services  in  honour  of  "Our  Lady 
of  the  Mount,"  a  rocket  was  fired  as  a  signal  for  the  attack.  A 
dense  crowd  surrounded  the  house,  burst  the  door,  and  rushed  in. 
Enraged  at  not  finding  their  victims,  they  committed  the  doctor's 
library  to  the  flames,  and  went  away  in  search  for  him.  Meanwhile, 
Dr.  Kalley,  in  female  attire  and  concealed  in  a  hammock,  was  borne 
to  the  pier.  There  was  just  time  to  get  into  a  boat  when  the  ruffians 
arrived  at  the  spot.  The  boat  was  speedily  alongside  the  steamer. 
Dr.  Kalley  was  safely  on  board,  confronting  the  immense  multitude 
that  thirsted  for  his  blood. 

Then  the  storm  which  had  been  so  long  gathering  burst  on  the 
devoted  heads  of  the  "Calvinists."  They  fled  to  the  mountains, 
where  they  were  remorselessly  hunted  by  the  hounds  of  holy  church. 
One  was  murdered,  others  received  injuries  believed  to  be  mortal, 
numbers  were  beaten  sorely  to  compel  them  to  confess.  In  despair 
of  justice  or  compassion  from  the  government,  they  decided  to  emi- 
grate. During  Mr.  Hewitson's  labours,  he  had  written  to  the  Colonial 
Committee:  "I  believe — I  know  it  for  a  fact — that  there  are  some 
here  who  read  the  Bible  in  secret  and  look  to  Christ  alone  for  salva- 
tion, without  having  boldness  enough  in  the  Lord  to  confess  him 
openly.  Elijah  was  the  only  public  witness  for  God  in  Israel,  yet* 
God  had  in  Israel  seven  thousand  hidden  worshippers."  But  even 
he  could  hardly  have  suspected  the  number  of  these  unrevealed  dis- 
ciples in  Madeira.  One  company  after  another,  despoiled  of  their 
goods  and  driven  from  their  habitations,  took  refuge  on  ship-board. 


W.    H.    HEWITSON.  479 

all  about  EIGHT  hundred  exiles  for  Christ's  sake  were  convej^ed 
CO  Trinidad  and  other  West-India  islands.  Truly,  a  mighty  cloud 
of  witnesses,  to  give  testimony  to  the  power  of  truth  undefiled! 
The  word  of  the  Lord  had  proved,  in  more  than  one  sense,  "as  a 
fire;" — it  had  swept,  during  two  years,  like  fire  in  a  prairie.  It  was 
evidently  fire  from  heaven,  kindling  the  flame  of  holiness,  and 
making  more  than  ever  visible  the  deformities  of  that  superstition 
that  with  "darkness  dared  affront  its  light." 

Mr.  Hewitson  arrived  at  home  about  the  end  of  June.  Longino: 
after  his  brethren  in  Madeira,  his  joy  and  crown,  and  greatly  desir- 
ing shortly  to  be  once  more  with  them,  though  at  the  hazard  of 
life,  the  news  of  their  exile  greatly  afflicted  him.  It  was  proposed 
that  he  should  follow  them  to  Trinidad,  a  suggestion  he  gladly 
ado23ted,  but  it  was  needful  that  immediate  provision  should  be  made 
for  their  oversight.  Senhor  Arsenio  da  Silva,  a  gentleman  who 
had  been  an  elder  of  the  church  at  Madeira,  but  was  compelled  to 
leave  before  the  general  dispersion,  and  was  now  at  Lisbon,  was 
ordained  for  this  work.  Mr.  Hewitson  continued  in  Scotland  till 
January,  1847,  when  he  set  sail  for  Trinidad.  He  touched  at 
Madeira,  where  he  found  that  the  good  seed  was  not  extirpated.  He 
was  conve3'ed  in  a  palanquin,  shrouded  from  unfriendly  eyes,  to  the 
house  of  an  acquaintance,  and  there  enjoyed  some  hours  of  conver- 
sation with  Christian  brethren  and  inquirers.  Thus  refreshed  in 
spirit,  he  went  on  his  way,  and  reached  Port  of  Spain,  Trinidad,  on 
the  28th.  He  found  in  the  neighbourhood  three  hundred  of  the 
converts,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  in  other  parts  of  the  island, 
exclusive  of  some  who  found  refuge  in  other  islands.  The  number  in 
Trinidad  subsequently  rose  to  seven  hundred.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  he  met  a  hearty  welcome.  He  found  that  the  pressure  of  per- 
secution being  removed,  there  was  somewhat  less  of  fervent  piety 
among  his  flock ;  they  were  no  longer  driven  to  walk  with  God  as  a 
refuge  from  the  fear  of  man;  but  nothing  was  apparent  that  justified 
doubt  as  to  the  sincerity  of  their  profession,  or  the  vitality  of  their 
faith.  In  the  absence  of  pastoral  supervision — for  Mr.  Da  Silva  had 
not  arrived  as  soon  as  was  expected — some  divisions  had  arisen,  a 
few  had  become  Baptists,  other  questions  agitated  them,  and  caused 
a  measure  of  unhappiness  which  it  was  his  first  endeavour  to  soothe. 
He  was  diligent  in  his  calling,  preached  to  the  Portuguese  of  tlio 
island,  as  well  as  to  the  exiled  Madeirenses,  and  also  visited  other 


480  w.  n,  riEwiTsoN. 

inlands.  His  abundant  labours,  in  a  tropical  climate,  enfeebled  his 
frame,  and  his  stay  there  was  brief.  On  Mr.  Da  Silva's  arrival,  he 
resigned  to  him  his  beloved  charge,  and  before  the  end  of  summer 
was  once  more  in  Scotland. 

In  the  spring  of  18-18,  he  was  settled  over  the  congregation  at 
Dirleton,  in  East  Lothian,  about  twenty  miles  from  Edinburgh.  He 
entered  on  his  ministry  here  with  all  the  ardour  of  his  soul,  and 
scarcely  a  month  passed  withoAit  evidence  that  the  word  he  preached 
was  blessed  to  the  salvation  of  some.  Decided  and  uncompromising 
in  presenting  "the  doctrines  of  grace,"  he  preached  with  a  solemn 
tenderness  that  greatly  won  upon  his  hearers.  And  he  was  not  one 
of  those  ministers  who  suffer  their  deportment  out  of  the  pulpit  to 
present  a  broad  contrast  to  their  preaching.  His  presence  seemed  to 
diffuse  a  vital  warmth,  the  radiance  of  a  love  ever  freshly  kindled 
from  on  high.  His  conversation  was  in  heaven.  Thither  he  tended, 
more  rapidly  than  his  friends  at  first  suspected.  For  pulmonary 
consumption,  the  seeds  of  which  were  lurking  in  his  frame  during 
his  whole  course,  speedily  made  fatal  inroads  on  his  strength,  and 
brought  him  to  his  grave  in  a  little  more  than  two  years  after  his 
settlement.  He  departed  on  the  7th  of  August,  1850,  having 
endured  extreme  suffering  not  only  with  patience,  but  with  such 
views  of  Mount  Zion,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  such  joyful  commu- 
nion with  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Covenant,  so  assured  an  expecta 
tion  of  soon  mingling  with  the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect, — 
that  it  was  an  inestimable  privilege  to  partake  of  the  solace  that 
flowed  from  his  lips  with  increasing  fulness  till  they  were  sealed 
in  death. 

Mr.  Hewitson,  as  has  been  abundantly  manifest,  was  a  man  of 
uncommon  mental  capacity.  He  had  a  penetrating  insight,  a  power 
of  subtle  analysis,  a  ready  discrimination,  not  to  be  easily  baffled  oi 
eluded.  He  early  showed  a  taste  for  metaphysical  speculation,  and 
it  was  from  no  incapacity  to  thrid  those  labyrinthine  defiles  of 
thought  that  he  declined  the  pursuit.  We  are  inclined  to  doubt,  in 
spite  of  the  testimony  of  his  biographer,  and  of  a  project  for  an  epic 
poem  found  among  his  manuscripts,  whether  he  combined  a  poetical 
imagination  with  gifts  so  seldom  found  in  company  with  it.  His 
industry  made  him  master  of  much  learning,  which  did  not  in  turn 
master  him.     The  charm  of  his  conversation  was  acknowledged  by 


W.   H.   HEWITSOX.  481 

all  who  were  privileged  to  have  intercourse  with  him  even  for  a 
few  minutes,  and  time  did  not  dispel  the  pleasure.  But  his  great 
distinction  was  the  unvarying  spirituality  that  shed  a  discernible 
grace  over  his  whole  deportment.  He  was  jealous  of  everything 
that  should  intercept  his  view  of  Him  who  was  his  life,  and  whose 
"appearing"  he  most  truly  loved.  Instant  in  prayer,  mighty  in  the 
Scriptures,  rejoicing  in  hope,  faithful  in  rebuke  and  admonition, 
warning  every  man  with  tears,  redeeming  the  time  for  that  the  day 
was  far  spent,  his  course  on  earth  was  plainly  the  beginning  of  a 
more  than  common  measure  of  joy  hereafter. 
31 


GROVER  SMITH  COM  STOCK. 


Grover  Smith  Comstock,  third  son  of  Dr.  Oliver  C.  Comstock, 
was  born  at  Ulysses,  N.  Y.,  March  24th,  1809.  He  was  blessed 
with  a  sound  constitution,  and  under  the  wise  care  of  his  parents, 
and  with  abundant  exercise,  he  grew  up  to  manhood  with  a  remark- 
able fulness,  strength,  and  symmetry  of  physical  development,  being 
six  feet  in  height,  well  proportioned,  and  with  a  countenance  and 
air  of  exceeding  manliness.  His  body  was  an  index  to  his  mind, 
which  was  strong  and  aspiring,  eminently  healthful  and  robust.  In 
boyhood,  as  might  be  supposed,  he  was  a  leader  in  the  amusements 
common  to  that  period  of  life,  in  which  he  showed  himself  unusu- 
ally daring  and  adventurous.  But  he  was  a  dutiful  son,  and  exem- 
plary in  his  behaviour,  not  allowing  his  love  of  adventure  to 
degenerate  into  idle  and  aimless  pursuits.  At  school,  those  who 
remarked  him  foremost  in  play,  were  surprised  at  his  unfailing 
readiness  and  accuracy  in  recitation.  He  carried  the  same  whole- 
heartedness  into  every  thing,  his  studies  and  recreations,  his  indi- 
vidual purposes,  and  the  offices  of  friendship.  There  was  nothing 
hollow  about  him,  nothing  to  awaken  distrust.  He  attracted  and 
deserved  confidence  in  all  his  relations.  His  course  as  a  scholar 
was  uniformly  creditable,  from  the  earliest  beginnings  to  his  final 
graduation  at  Hamilton  College,  in  1827;  and  while  enjoying  largely 
the  esteem  of  his  fellows,  his  deportment  was  such,  in  all  respects, 
as  to  command  the  approbation  of  his  teachers. 

Having  completed  his  college  course,  he  commenced  the  study 
of  law,  under  able  instructors,  and  pursued  it  with  diligence  for 
three  years.  He  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State  of  New-York  in  July,  1830,  and  formed  a  connec- 
tion in  professional  business  with  a  leading  barrister  in  Eoches- 
ter.  His  evident  ability,  the  honourable  distinction  he  had  won  as 
a  scholar,  the  purity  of  his  character,  and  his  amiable  deportment, 
commended  him  to  all,  and  seldom  has  a  young  man  entered  on 
.ife  with  fairer  prospects  of  re];)utation  and  emolument. 


48-i  G.    S.    COMSTOCK. 

But  his  career  in  the  profession  was  destined  to  be  brief.  For 
a  few  months  it  engrossed  his  energies,  but  the  year  1831,  memor- 
able in  the  religious  history  of  Rochester,  opened  to  his  view 
another  and  a  higher  field  for  the  exercise  of  his  powers.  His 
religious  culture  had  not  been  neglected.  From  a  child,  he  had 
known  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  if  they  had  not  made  him  wise 
unto  salvation,  it  was  from  no  defect  of  instruction  and  devout 
solicitude  on  the  part  of  his  parents.  At  this  time  his  mind  was 
aroused,  in  common  with  multitudes,  to  the  serious  consideration 
of  the  claims  of  religion,  and  was  brought  to  an  intelligent  and 
cordial  submission  to  them.  His  conduct  evinced  the  sincerity  of 
liis  open  profession.  All  his  powers  were  surrendered  to  the  ser- 
vice of  his  Divine  Master.  He  bore  full  testimony  to  the  excellency 
of  the  gospel,  visiting  from  house  to  house,  distributing  tracts, 
reading  the  Scriptures,  conversing  with  any  who  would  accept  his 
humble  efforts  for  their  highest  good.  It  was  not  possible  that  one 
so  singly  devoted  to  the  service  of  religion,  should  long  consent  to 
divide  it  with  a  profession  which  makes  such  drafts  on  the  strongest 
intellect.  He  was  not  the  man  to  shrink  from  labour,  and  had  he  been 
satisfied  with  the  rewards  of  the  pursuit,  he  would  most  cheerfully 
have  submitted  to  "live  like  a  hermit,  and  work  like  a  horse," — 
the  course  prescribed  by  a  late  Lord  Chancellor  of  England,  as 
necessary  to  success  at  the  bar.  But  higher  aims,  calling  for  no 
less  activity  and  endurance,  now  filled  his  vision.  Having  united 
with  the  First  Baptist  Church  in  Rochester,  of  which  his  father  was 
then  the  pastor,  he  signified  his  desire  to  enter  the  Christian  minis- 
try, deeming  it  his  duty,  he  said,  "to  occupy  that  position  which 
should  enable  him  to  do  the  most  good  in  the  world."  The  church 
needed  no  urging  to  accept  of  such  a  candidate  for  the  sacred  office, 
and  with  great  unanimity  approved  of  his  proposal.  He  pursued 
the  study  of  theology  for  one  year,  in  the  Hamilton  Literary  and 
Theological  Institution,  (now  incorporated  as  Madison  University,) 
with  all  his  constitutional  energy,  nerved  by  the  influences  and 
guided  by  the  restraints  of  a  simple,  scriptural  piety. 

The  recurrence  from  active  life  to  one  of  study,  indeed,  would 
not  have  been  in  itself  pleasing,  but  he  was  ever  looking  forward, 
leaving  the  things  that  were  behind,  and  fixing  his  vision  on  the 
great  duties  for  which  he  was  prepai'ing.  When  thinking  of  what  he 
had  enjoyed  in  Rochester,  he  said,  "I  experienced  a  sort  of  pleasing 
melancholy ;  but  in  this  there  is  no  profit  and  no  religion, — so  away 


G.    S.    COMSTOCK.  485 

with  it."  On  liis  past  course  and  present  state  as  a  Cliristian,  he 
ever  spoke  with  humble  self-distrust,  as  one  aiming  continually  at 
liigher  attainments.  "I  do  believe,"  he  writes  to  a  friend,  shortly 
after  entering  on  his  studies,  "that  God  requires  all  the  services  of 
his  children,  that  he  expects  them  all  to  be  constantly  active  in  his 
service,  and  that  he  is  willing  to  bless  all  the  efforts  which  are  made 
with  a  sincere  desire  to  promote  his  glory."  But  he  complains  of 
a  great  distance  from  such  entireness  of  consecration.  "I  firmly 
believe  that  unless  I  am  more  holy,  and  have  more  of  the  spirit  of 
my  Master,  I  never  can  do  good  in  the  world.  I  am  as  proud  as 
Lacifer,  and  constantly  forget  that  I  am  not  my  own."  The  studies 
that  engaged  his  mind,  enlisted  his  powers,  not  more  by  the  force  of 
sympathy  with  the  pursuits  to  which  they  were  preparatory  than  by 
their  intrinsic  worth  and  excellence,  and  he  seems  to  have  cherished 
a  most  affectionate  interest  in  the  companions  and  the  scene  of  his 
brief  theological  course.  In  the  prospect  of  its  termination,  he  writes : 
"The  time  when  I  am  to  leave  these  consecrated  walls,  and  the  dear 
brethren  with  whom  I  have  been  permitted  to  associate  here,  hastens 
on.  The  parting  hand  must  soon  be  taken,  and  the  last  look  cast 
upon  those  to  whom  I  am  united  by  the  strong  ties  of  Christian  fellow- 
ship and  love.  These  things  begin  to  look  like  realities,  but  they 
seem  to  produce  very  little  effect  upon  my  feelings.  Nor  is  it  par- 
ticularly desirable  that  they  should."  Not  desirable,  certainly,  to 
any  such  degree  as  that  they  should  interfere  with  the  cheerful 
discharge  of  the  duties  that  moved  them  alike  to  associate  and  to 
separate, — but  no  effort  of  the  will  could  restrain  the  spontaneous 
out-goings  of  a  genuine  Christian  affection. 

The  missionary  spirit,  as  it  is,  in  truth,  only  another  name  for 
that  love  which  is  of  the  essence  of  evangelical  piety,  sprung  up  in 
Mr.  Comstock's  mind  in  the  dawn  of  his  Christian  life.  His  purpose 
to  consecrate  himself  to  the  w^ork  had  its  inception  at  so  early  a 
period,  and  was  formed  so  gradually,  that  he  was  hardly  conscious 
of  the  process.  Such  at  least  would  be  the  natural  interpretation 
of  a  passage  occurring  in  a  letter  to  a  frequent  correspondent,*  writ- 
ten after  his  appointment  as  a  missionary:  "I  often  think  of  my 
saying  to  you  one  evening,  half  seriously,  that  I  would  be  a  mission- 

*  To  whom,  though  not  at  liberty  to  allude  by  name,  the  editor  is  bound  to 
express  his  obligations  for  the  privilege  of  perusing  a  deeply  interesting  and  valuable 
collection  of  Mr.  Comstock's  letters. 


•136  G.    S.     COMSTOCK. 

ajy  to  Burmali.  That  was  the  same  fall  iii  which  I  indulged  hope. 
"Vou  thought  me  then  not  very  serious  in  what  I  said,  but  still,  from 
that  time,  I  used  to  cherish  a  secret  intention  of  bearing  to  the 
heathen  the  glad  tidings  of  salvation."  During  the  progress  of  his 
studies,  this  intention  was  confirmed  and  divulged.  The  missionary 
spirit  was  then,  as  it  has  since  been,  active  at  Hamilton,  prompting 
numbers  to  give  themselves  to  the  cause.  He  writes,  under  date  of 
March  1,  1882:  "Two  of  my  classmates  have  written  this  term  to 
the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  the  General  Convention,  offering 
themselves  as  missionaries.  Brother  Dean  had  already  done  so. 
May  the  number  be  increased!  I  sometimes  think  that  I  am  shut 
out  from  this  privilege  by  the  requirement  of  the  Board:  'That  such 
persons  only  as  are  in  full  communion  with  some  regular  church  of 
our  denomination,  and  who  furnisli  satisflictory  evidence  of  ijenuine 
piety^  good  talents,  ViwX  fervent  zeal  for  the  Redeemer's  cause,  are  to 
be  employed  as  missionaries.'  IIow  unlike  my  character!  I  do 
not  know  that  I  shall  ever  offer  myself  to  the  Board,  but  I  do  feel 
that  it  would  be  an  inestimable  privilege  to  tell  the  story  of  Calvary 
to  the  perishing  heathen."  For  this  privilege,  after  due  deliberation, 
he  sought  by  a  formal  application  to  the  Board  within  a  few  months, 
and  received  a  favourable  answer.  ■• 

At  the  close  of  his  theological  studies,  he  entered  on  a  specific 
preparation  for  the  field  of  his  appointment.  Mr.  Wade,  of  the 
Burman  mission,  had  arrived  in  this  country  in  May,  1833,  bringing 
with  him  two  of  the  native  converts,  Moung  Shwa  Moung,  a  Burman, 
and  Ko  Chetthing,  a  Karen.  As  eight  persons  were  designated  for 
that  mission,  it  was  thought  practicable  for  them  to  pursue  in  this 
country  the  study  of  the  languages  in  which  they  were  to  preach, 
under  the  instruction  of  Mr.  Wade  with  the  assistance  of  the  natives 
accompanying  him.  A  school  was  accordingly  opened  for  this  pur- 
pose at  Hamilton  on  the  20th  of  June,  and  continued  nine  months. 
Mr.  Comstock  addressed  himself  to  the  acquisition  of  the  Burmese 
with  characteristic  perseverance,  though  dealing  with  a  tongue  so 
foreign  to  western  modes  of  thought  and  speech  was  adapted  to  put 
liis  patience  to  the  proof  In  a  letter  dated  August  14,  he  gives  a 
lively  description  of  his  daily  employment: 

"At  half-past  eight  I  go  to  the  school-room,  and  remain  oung-mg, 
■writing,  &c.,  till  noon;  then  of  course  comes  dinner;  at  half-past 
one,  in  school  again  till  five,  and  then  tea,  exercise,  meetings,  &c. 


G.    S.    COMSTOCK.  487 

You  know  my  motto  is,  'variety  is  the  spice  of  life/  and  on  the 
whole  I  contrive  to  get  some  variety  into  my  daily  routine  of  duties. 
In  our  lessons  we  vary  from  wa-swa  to  yap-pen,  from  yap-pen  to  Aa- 
to;  and  then  again  we  oung  awhile,  after  which  we  write,  recite,  talk, 
laugh,  &c.  So  you  see  there  is  variety  in  my  pursuits,  although 
there  seems  to  be  so  much  sameness." — "We  are  succeeding  pretty 
well,  I  think.  I  don't  know  but  I  shall  be  able  after  a  while  to 
make  something  bearing  a  faint  resemblance  to  the  sounds  of  Bur- 
man  words.  At  any  rate,  I  shall  not  give  up  the  ship  yet.  I  will 
labour  among  the  Burmans  if  the  Lord  permit."  In  November,  he 
says:  "Our  progress  in  acquiring  the  language  has  been  quite  satis- 
factory, at  least  to  ourselves.  We  have  translated  the  Gospel  of 
John,  except  the  first  six  or  seven  chapters,  and  reviewed  it  to  the 
sixteenth.  We  are  also  succeeding  very  well  in  acquiring  the 
sounds,  so  much  so  that  Moung  Shway  Moung  sometimes  says,  after 
we  have  read  perhaps  two  pages,  'Good  plenty.'" 

As  the  time  for  his  departure  approached,  the  tone  of  his  feelings 
was  perceptibly  raised.  He  had  commenced  his  preparation  for  the 
ministry  with  a  lowly  sense  of  his  personal  fitness  for  the  work  and 
his  dependance  on  aid  from  above,  and  this  spirit  he  cherished.  "It 
is  a  fearful  thing,"  he  said,  as  he  looked  out  from  the  seminary  on 
the  lot  assigned  him  in  the  world,  "for  a  minister  of  Jesus  Christ 
to  be  left  to  his  own  strength  and  wisdom."  But  his  perception  of 
the  fulness  of  divine  power  offered  to  humble  faith  grew  stronger, 
and  armed  him  with  a  corresponding  confidence.  In  a  letter,  written 
about  two  months  before  his  embarkation,  he  says:  "I  have  been 
thinking  a  good  deal  about  that  strength  in  God  which  it  is  the 
privilege  and  duty  of  Christians  to  possess.  We  are  very  weak  of 
ourselves,  I  know;  we  are  'worms  of  the  dust,'  'of  yesterday,  and 
know  nothing;'  but,  after  all,  we  can  do  all  things  through  Christ 
strengthening  us.  'In  the  Lord  Jehovah  is  everlasting  strength,' 
and  I  believe  it  is  the  privilege  of  Christians  to  draw  on  it,  and  use 
it  in  the  service  of  God.  We  are  exhorted  to  'be  strong  in  the 
Lord  and  in  the  power  of  his  might,'  and  is  not  this  practicable?  1 
do  not  believe  the  Lord  ever  designed  the  saints  to  be  that  puny, 
ineificient,  fearful  race  which  they  so  generally  are.  Do  you?  If 
not,  let  us  venture  upon  the  strength  of  God,  and,  attempting  great 
things,  expect  great  things." 

The  company  with  which  he  was  associated  consisted  of  Mr.  and 


488  6.    S.    COMSTOCK. 

Mrs.  Wade,  with  the  two  native  converts,  whose  presence  in  this 
country  had  excited  a  wide  and  warm  interest  in  the  mission  of 
which  they  were  the  visible  fruit,  and  Messrs.  Howard,  Vinton, 
Dean*  and  Osgood,  their  wives  and  Miss  Gardner, — the  largest  com- 
pany of  missionaries  that  had  been  sent  out  at  one  time.  On  the 
29th  of  June,  1834,  on  the  eve  of  his  embarkation,  Mr.  Comstock 
gave  utterance  to  his  feelings  in  a  brief  note.  "  To-morrow,"  he  says, 
"is  fixed  for  the  day  of  sailing.  Yes,  the  time  has  come  to  sunder 
all  the  tender  ties  which  bind  me  to  parents,  friends  and  country. 
And  they  shall  be  freely  sundered.  I  rejoice  in  the  work  which 
God  has  assigned  me.  The  providences  of  God  have  been  such 
toward  me  that  I  cannot  doubt  my  duty.  And  let  us  do  our  duty, 
cost  what  it  may."  How  much  it  cost  him  would  never  have  been 
more  than  suspected  from  his  own  language,  for  without  any  of  that 
unnatural  denial  of  human  sympathies  which  some  persons  palm 
upon  themselves  as  specially  manly^  he  was  not  wont  to  parade  his 
sensibilities;  and  in  this  instance  he  exercised  a  little  more  self- 
restraint,  as  he  afterwards  intimated,  that  he  might  not  stimulate  the 
emotions  of  his  friends  by  too  freely  yielding  to  them  himself  But 
to  his  latest  hour  he  never  ceased  to  recur  with  fond  recollection  to 
the  friends  whose  Christian  affection  had  done  so  much  for  Itis  hap- 
piness on  earth,  and  had  prepared  them  for  more  perfect  enjoyment 
when  they  should  hereafter  be  reunited. 

Nothing  in  their  voyage  (except  the  circumstance  of  its  length) 
made  it  to  differ  essentially  from  others.  The  number  of  passengers 
united  in  spirit  and  purpose  relieved  its  tedium,  and  permitted  it  to 
be  profitable  to  all.  Mr.  Comstock  appears  to  have  enjoyed  it,  after 
getting  released  from  the  necessary  probation  of  sea-sickness.  In 
quiet  evening  hours  his  mind  found  solace,  not  sorrow,  in  remem- 
brance of  the  past.  "I  admire  summer  sunsets,"  he  writes,  "but  I 
never  saw  anything  on  land  equal  to  the  gorgeous  beauty  of  some 
sunsets  which  I  have  recently  witnessed.  I  do  delight  to  take  my 
Feat  on  the  stern  of  the  vessel,  and  watch  the  'king  of  day'  as  he 
retires  majestically  to  his  ocean  rest.  Often  then  does  my  mind 
wander  to  Rochester,  and  dwell  for  a  season  with'  affectionate  inter- 
est upon  the  dear  friends  I  have  left  for  ever.  Again,  on  a  clear 
moonlight  evening,  I  resume  my  seat,  and  the  scenes  of  other  days 
rush  unbidden  upon  my  recollection.  Do  you  ask  if  anything  of 
sadness  and  regret  mingles  with  my  thoughts  of  distant  friends  and 

*  Mr.  Dean  was  designated  to  the  Siam  mission,  and  is  now  labourino;  in  China. 


G.    S.    COMSTOCK.  489 

past  pleasures?  0,  no!  I  would  be  grateful  that  I  have  ever  had 
such  dear  friends  as  I  have  left,  and  experienced  those  enjoyments 
which  are  now  for  ever  past.  God  in  kindness  has  granted  me  rich 
blessings,  but  shall  I  love  the  gifts  more  than  the  Giver?  Shall  I 
not  most  cheerfully  relinquish  them  at  his  bidding?  Yes,  let  me 
give  up  all  for  Christ,  who  gave  his  life  a  ransom  for  my  soul." 

The  vessel  arrived  at  Maul  main  in  December,  where  Mr.  Com- 
stock  remained  about  two  months,  waiting  for  a  passage  to  Arracan, 
the  destined  field  of  his  labours,  during  which  time  he  greatly 
enjoyed  the  society  of  missionaries  at  that  important  station.  He 
reached  Kyouk  Phyoo,  the  place  selected  for  his  solitary  toils,  his 
wife  alone  sharing  them,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1835.  A  suitable 
residence  was  procured,  and  having  some  knowledge  of  the  Bur- 
mese, he  was  ready  to  commence  his  labours  at  once. 

The  province  of  Arracan,  formerly  a  part  of  the  Burman  empire, 
but  acquired  by  the  English  at  the  conclusion  of  the  war  in  1826, 
lies  on  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Bay  of  Bengal ;  having  on  the  north 
the  province  of  Chittagong,  which  separates  it  from  Bengal  and 
Assam ;  on  the  east,  the  Yoma  mountains,  forming  a  barrier  against 
the  Burman  dominions;  and  on  the  south  and  west,  the  waters  of 
the  bay.  It  extends  about  five  hundred  miles  in  length,  and  is 
nearly  one  hundred  miles  wide  at  the  northern  extremity,  but 
gradually  narrows  till  it  terminates  in  Cape  Negrais  with  a  breadth 
not  exceeding  three  miles.  Its  area  is  about  sixteen  thousand  five 
hundred  square  miles,  inhabited  by  a  population  estimated  to  num- 
ber two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  The  country  has  been  con- 
quered and  much  oppressed.  The  people  are  mostly  of  a  race 
called  Mugs,  but  they  bear  a  near  resemblance  to  the  Burmans, 
only  degraded  by  servitude,  speak  the  same  language  and  profess  the 
same  religion.  They  are  extremely  ignorant,  superstitious,  and  dis- 
trustful of  strangers, — their  experience  of  alien  domination  having 
given  them  too  much  reason  for  such  a  feeling.  It  would  readily  be 
conjectured  that  their  moral  state  was  unpromising.  The  vices 
which  paganism  universally  nourishes,  had  been  stimulated  by  the 
political  and  social  degradation  they  long  suffered,  giving  to  their 
character  an  aspect  which  at  once  demonstrated  their  need  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  was  fitted  to  discourage  all  efforts  to  communicate  it. 

Mr.  Comstock  made  a  tour  very  soon  after  his  arrival,  to  become 
acquainted  with  his  extensive  parish,   in  the  course  of  which  he 


490  G.    S.    COMSTOCK. 

preached  and  distributed  tracts.  The  novelty  of  his  teachings  drevr 
the  people  around  him  in  co^vsiderable  numbers,  so  that  though  he 
made  no  perceptible  impression  on  their  minds,  he  found  great 
delight  in  making  known  to  such  multitudes,  for  the  first  time,  the 
existence  of  an  eternal  God,  their  relations  to  the  divine  govern- 
ment, and  the  only  Name  whereby  they  must  be  saved.  Returning 
to  Kyouk  Phyoo,  he  set  up  two  schools,  one  in  English,  and  gave 
himself  to  more  circumscribed  and  systematic  labour,  which  he 
varied  by  excursions  into  various  parts  of  the  country.  His  situa- 
tion was  one  that  called  into  requisition  all  his  natural  buoyancy  of 
feeling  and  all  the  spiritual  resources  his  faith  could  command. 
There  was  no  missionary  nearer  than  Akj^ab,  about  a  hundred  miles 
away,  and  the  English  residents  at  Kj'ouk  Phyoo,  though  never 
wanting  in  courtesy  or  respect,  had  no  sympathy  with  his  religious 
spirit  or  purposes.  He  had  as  little  sympathy  with  the  unceasing 
effort  they  felt  compelled  to  make,  by  dinner  parties  and  other  gay- 
eties,  to  kill  time  and  make  life  endurable.  He  declined  entering 
much  into  their  society,  on  the  plea  that  it  would  interfere  with  his 
missionary  engagements.  "They  think  our  course  strange,"  he 
remarks,  "but  I  cannot  help  it.  I  might  occasionally  get  a  very  rare 
dinner,  but  the  soul  would  famish  in  consequence  of  it."  Yet, 
though  lonely,  he  could  say: 

"  We  are  a  happy  family.  0  that  we  were  holy!  My  feelings  in 
reference  to  personal  holiness  have  been  somewhat  different  daring 
the  last  few  months  from  what  they  ever  were  before.  I  am  not 
holy,  dear  E.,  far  from  it,  but  I  am  groaning  to  be  delivered  from 
the  power  of  sin.  I  want  to  be  conformed  to  the  image  of  my 
blessed  Master.  I  want  to  be  wholly  sanctified.  0,  how  hateful  and 
defiling  is  sin — how  desirable  is  holiness!  And  why  should  we  be 
the  slaves  of  sin  and  sense?  I  am  not  anxious  to  fix  the  precise 
limits  of  Christian  attainment  in  this  life,  but  I  am  confident  that 
we  may  possess  such  a  frame  of  mind,  that  the  least  sin  (if  the  phrase 
is  allowable)  will  very  soon  bring  us  on  our  knees  before  God;  and 
that  we  cannot  rest  without  enjoying  constant  communion  with 
God."  These  feelings  were  unmingled  with  a  particle  of  spiritual 
pride.  "Now  do  not  think,"  he  says,  very  characteristically,  in  the 
conclusion  of  the  letter,  "that  I  have  made  any  very  surprising 
advances  in  piety,  for  I  have  not." 

The  sole  charge  of  all  departments  of  the  mission  pressed  heavily 
upon  the  solitary  pair.     The  native  school  was  taught  by  Mrs.  Com- 


G.    S.    COMSTOCK.  491 

stock,  while  her  husband  divided  his  attention  between  the  English 
school,  his   necessary  studies,  preaching  and  conversing  with  the 
people.     The  utility  of  instruction  in  English,  in  all  such  cases,  is 
prospective  rather  than  immediate.      It  is  designed  to  raise  up  a 
small  class  of  natives  who  will  be  the  medium  of  introducing  the 
science  and  literature  of  Europe  and  America  to  their  countrymen, 
and  who,  as  ministers  of  the  gospel,  should  the  truth  "  make  them 
free,"  will  have  access  to  the  treasures  of  theological  lore  contained 
in  our  language,  thus  becoming  in  every  respect  the  intellectual  and 
rspiritual  guides  of  their  people.     Besides  this  important  work,  it  was 
necessary  to  devote  considerable  time  to  studying  the  language  and 
sacred  literature  of  the  Burmans,  that  he  might  be  more  flxmiliar 
with  the  popular  modes  of  thought  and  the  superstitions  by  which 
they  were  bound.     But  his  most  engaging  task  was  the  proclamation 
of  the  gospel  to  all  who  would  hear.    At  his  house,  in  places  of  public 
resort  and  in  occasional  tours  sometimes  to  a  great  distance,  he  deliv- 
ered his  message,  combatted  the  delusions  of  the  people,  silenced 
cavillers,  and  reasoned  with  such  as  appeared  to  be  candid  inquirers. 
"I  think  the  habits  of  thought  which  I  acquired  in  my  law  days," 
he  writes  to  a  friend  in  the  profession,  "are  of  great  benefit  to  me 
here.    In  talking  with  the  natives,  it  is  necessary  to  be  as  circumspect 
as  you  would  be  in  drawing  special  pleadings.     Everything  must  be 
stated,  and  in  its  proper  order.     If  you  leave  out  anything  material 
to  your  case,  they  will  quickly  perceive  it,  and  if  you  start  anything 
irrelevant  to  it,  they  will  generally  remark  it.     Having  learned  this, 
I  try  to  declare  the  truth  in  such  a  manner  that  they  can  find  noth- 
ing to  object  to  except  the  truth  itself.     While  the  natives  admire 
this  method  of  argument,  and  will  notice  a  departure  from  it  in 
another,  they  are  very  far  from  pursuing  it  themselves.     They  have 
been  so  long  accustomed  to  believe  whatever  the  priests  say,  or  the 
sacred  books  declare,  that  they  think  no  other  evidence  is  necessary. 
It  is,  too,  exceedingly  difficult  to  keep  them  to  one  point  for  any 
length  of  time,  and  when  you  have  brought  them  so  near  to  any  of 
the  absurdities  or  falsehoods  of  their  religion  that  they  see  what  is 
before  them,  you  have  to  examine  and  cross-examine  as  closely  as 
you  would  if  endeavouring  to  draw  out  an  important  fact  from  a 
witness  who  is  deeply  interested  in  concealing  it.     They  will  evade 
a  direct  answer  as  long  as  possible,  and  when  evasion  is  no  longer 
practicable,  they  sometimes  will  not  answer  at  all.     However,  those 
who  look  on  generally  see  the  reason  of  the  man's  silence,  and  laugh 


492  G.    S.    COMSTOCK. 

heartily  at  his  embarrassment,  but  still  tliey  do  not  think  that  they 
are  affected  by  the  argument.  The  heathen  cling  to  their  religion 
with  so  strong  a  grasp,  that  nothing  short  of  Almighty  power  can 
loosen  their  hold." 

His  labours  had  not  been  long  commenced  when  he  was  admon- 
ished of  the  risks  incident  to  an  ungenial  climate,  by  a  severe  attack 
of  fever  and  ague  that  suspended  all  active  labours  for  two  or  three 
weeks,  the  recurrence  of  which  afterwards  compelled  a  withdrawal 
from  this  station.  From  this  he  suffered  but  little,  and  immediately 
set  about  extensive  itineracies  among  distant  villages.  Aeng,  a  town 
near  the  frontier  of  the  province  on  the  great  pass  from  Ava  to  Cal- 
cutta, the  resort  of  traders  from  all  parts,  gave  him  an  excellent  field 
for  occasional  preaching  and  tract  distribution,  though  its  unhealth- 
iness  made  it  impossible  for  Europeans  to  reside  therein  safety.  He 
also  travelled  southward  among  communities  where  a  white  face 
had  never  been  seen  before.  These  journeys  were  commonly  per- 
formed in  a  small  native  boat,  which  would  convey  him  to  almost 
any  point  where  the  people  were  accessible  in  considerable  numbers. 
"To  protect  me  from  the  heat,"  he  says,  "  and  to  have  a  sleeping- 
place  at  night,  a  part  of  the  boat  is  covered  with  leaves,  making  a 
cabin  somewhat  larger  than  an  American  oven.  One  serious  incon- 
venience is,  that  I  have  to  keep  a  fire  all  the  while  for  cooking,"  (a 
necessary  in  a  land  where  hotels  were  never  known)  "and  very  fre- 
quently the  smoke  pours  in  upon  me  most  unmercifully.  Some 
days  since  I  went  out  into  the  ocean  about  ten  miles  to  a  small  island, 
and  was  forcibly  reminded  of  the  *  three  wise  men  of  Gotham '  who 
'  went  to  sea  in  a  bowl.'  I  believe,  however,  my  mode  of  travelling 
is  safe,  as  the  natives  all  go  in  the  same  way,  and  they  are  great 
cowards.  Notwithstanding  some  little  inconveniences  which  attend 
itinerant  labour,  I  like  it  very  much."  No  personal  inconveniences, 
however  great,  affected  his  mind  so  much  as  the  moral  obstacles  he 
had  to  encounter.  The  mental  imbecility  and  spiritual  darkness  of 
the  multitude  tasked  his  powers  and  moved  his  sensibilities  to  their 
extremest  limit,  happily  without  quenching  his  resolution.  "As 
the  gospel  only  can  elevate  and  save  them,"  he  observes,  "all  we 
have  to  do  is  to  work  so  much  the  harder.  A  great  deal  of  patient 
and  fatiguing  labour  is  to  be  performed  here,  and  you  know  the 
Lord  has  given  me  a  good  constitution,  very  well  adapted  to  hard 
work.  My  health  is,  generally,  quite  good,  and  I  delight  in  the 
service  which  my  Master  has  assigned  me." 


G.   s.   CO :m STOCK.  493 

This  elastic,  unyielding  spirit,  as  we  have  intimated,  had  to  strug- 
gle with  most  painful  trials  of  the  sensibility ;  so  painful,  that  if  he 
had  possessed  no  other  resources  than  "a  good  constitution"  and  a 
cheerful  temper,  they  had  been  too  much  for  him.  They  can  be 
best  presented,  though  the  limits  of  this  sketch  do  not  admit  of 
extended  quotation,  in  his  own  words.  In  answer  to  an  inquiry  as 
to  what  he  suffered,  his  letters  having  been  very  free  from  allusions 
to  such  matters,  he  replied:  "I  write  as  I  feel.  Everything  is  infi- 
nitely better  in  reference  to  me  than  I  deserve.  Besides,  the  real 
trials  of  a  missionary  are  not  easily  told.  They  have  no  reference 
to  food,  clothing,  &c.  True,  we  sometimes  come  to  close  quarters 
in  respect  to  them,  but  this  is  soon  over.  We  are  greatly  annoyed 
by  having  to  deal  with  lying  and  cheating  natives,  but  this  is 
endurable.  The  most  intense  and  saddest  feelings  are  excited  in 
view  of  the  situation  of  the  heathen.  We  sometimes  follow  an  indi- 
vidual with  the  deepest  interest  for  a  long  time,  our  hopes  are  greatly 
raised  in  reference  to  him,  when  suddenly  they  are  dashed  to  the 
ground,  and  the  man  hates  the  gospel  more  than  others.  At  other 
times  we  feel  so  weak  and  ignorant,  seeing  something  important  to 
be  done,  and  not  knowing  how  to  do  it,  that  we  are  vastly  perplexed." 
And  writing  again,  of  the  insensibility  of  the  people,  he  exclaims, 
"  0,  how  I  pity  them !  and  yet  I  seem  to  be  of  no  use  to  them.  I 
fear  the  truth  I  declare  will  only  prove  a  savour  of  death  unto  death 
to  their  souls.  Sometimes  I  feel  as  if  I  must  go  among  them,  and 
pull  them  by  force  'out  of  the  fire,'  but  this  I  cannot  do.  Then  I 
tarn  away,  and  weep  and  pray;  thus  my  own  soul  is  relieved,  but 
tliey  are  still  exposed  to  all  that  is  fearful  in  the  wrath  of  God. 
What  shall  I  do?" 

Sad  as  was  the  prospect,  he  only  "worked  the  harder,"  as  he  had 
said.  Every  Sunday  morning  he  spent  an  hour  and  a  half  with  his 
scholars,  Mrs.  Comstock  at  the  same  time  teaching  the  children 
under  her  immediate  charge;  and  they  found  great  enjoyment  in 
telling  them,  thirty  in  all,  of  the  Saviour.  Public  worship,  including 
a  sermon,  next  followed ;  the  auditors  besides  the  school  were  few. 
"It  is  the  day  of  small  things  in  Arracan,"  he  remarks,  "but  the 
Lord  can  bless  feeble  instrumentality  to  the  accomplishment  of  great 
results.  After  worship,  Sarah  and  I  hold  a  '  class  meeting '  to  relate 
to  each  other  our  exercises  for  the  week."  Then  followed  an  inter- 
val of  tract  distribution  and  conversation  with  the  people,  after  which 
an  evening  service  was  held  in  English,  attended  by  about  a  dozen. 


49-1  G.    S.    COMSTOCK. 

Daring  the  week  his  schools,  and  a  hirge  amount  of  evangelical 
labour  in  addition,  kept  body  and  mind  in  constant  activity.  But 
his  constitution  was  not  strong  enough  to  bear  such  severe  ten- 
sion, especially  in  the  hot  season.  At  the  close  of  August  he  was 
l^rostrated  with  fever,  and  obliged  to  dismiss  his  schools.  He  had 
scarcely  recovered  when,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  November,  a  hur- 
ricane destroyed  his  house,  together  with  a  large  number  in  the  vil- 
lage, wrecking  several  vessels,  and  causing  much  loss  of  life  and 
property.  This  calamity  was  soon  repaired,  the  schools  reassembled 
and  the  ordinary  course  of  labour  was  resumed,  but  with  a  percep- 
tible diminution  of  strength.  The  arrival  of  Eev.  Levi  Hall  and 
wife,  in  May,  1837,  to  reinforce  the  mission,  gave  him  renewed 
encouragement,  unhappily  but  for  a  brief  period.  Mrs.  Hall  was 
removed  by  death  in  July,  and  her  husband  followed  her  to  the 
grave  in  September.  By  this  time  Mr.  Comstock  was  himself  in 
such  a  state  of  health  that  he  was  advised  to  leave  the  country. 
This  he  could  not  consent  to  do  in  his  circumstances.  One  of  his 
pupils  had  applied  for  baptism,  and  others  were  serious.  He  there- 
fore continued,  in  loneliness  and  much  weakness,  to  pursue  his 
delightful  tasks  till  December,  when  he  was  driven  to  Calcutta  with 
his  family  by  illness.  In  the  succeeding  May  he  was  at  Maulmain, 
where  he  had  the  happiness  of  baptizing  one  of  his  domestic  serv- 
ants on  a  profession  of  faith.  Here  he  remained  several  months, 
engaged  in  literary  labour. 

Early  in  1839  we  find  him  again  at  Kyouk  Phyoo,  but  experience 
had  shown  that  it  was  not  prudent  to  continue  there,  and  in  March 
he  had  established  himself  at  Ramree,  on  a  large  island  of  that  name, 
off  the  coast, — a  town  of  about  eight  thousand  inhabitants,  regarded 
by  the  natives  as  more  healthy  than  Kyouk  Phyoo.  Its  situation, 
however,  shut  in  on  all  sides  by  high  hills,  makes  the  summer  heat 
intense  and  exhausting.  Mr.  Comstock  entered  on  his  new  sphere 
with  hopes  chastened  by  experience.  "This  is,  at  the  best,"  he 
writes,  "a  climate  inimical  to  foreigners,  and  many  have  found  their 
graves  in  Arracan.  We  hope,  to  be  sure,  to  labour  many  years  for 
the  salvation  of  the  dying  heathen  around  us,  but  we  try  constantly 
to  feel  that  'Death  is  narrowly  watching  our  footsteps.'  "  The  atten- 
tion given  by  the  people  to  his  preaching,  their  readiness  to  be 
instructed,  and  the  eagerness  with  which  tracts  and  books  were 
read,  gave  animation  to  his  efforts.  Though  few  acknowledged  the 
truth,  and  none  seemed  to  be  savingly  benefited  by  it,  a  considera- 


G.    S.    COMSTOCK.  495 

ble  number  were  unmistakeably  thoughtful,  and  the  strength  of 
Boodhism  was  clearly  giving  way.  So  profoundly  ignorant  that  they 
knew,  he  remarks,  "almost  nothing,"  and  with  a  moral  sense  "so 
benumbed  and  powerless  that  we  almost  question  whether  they  have 
any,"  there  were  yet  faint  glimpses  of  dawning  intelligence  and 
moral  life  at  which  he  was  able  to  rejoice.  This  interest  was  appar- 
ently transient,  for  at  a  later  date  he  writes:  "Though  multitudes 
hear  the  'glad  tidings,'  not  one  has  embraced  the  truth,  and  I  know 
of  none  who  manifest  any  interest  in  it.  Did  I  not  feel  a  very 
strong  assurance  that  I  am  here  in  accordance  with  the  divine  will, 
and  that  the  efforts  we  are  making  are  on  the  whole  the  best  we 
can  make,  I  should  of  course  feel  entirely  disheartened.  As  it  is, 
I  am  usually  enabled  to  go  on  in  my  work  with  considerable 
confidence  and  delight." 

Of  his  spiritual  advantages,  as  compared  with  those  enjoyed  in  a 
Christian  land,  he  remarks,  under  date  of  September  24,  1840 : 
"Our  situation  has  its  advantages.  We  are  more  alone  with  God 
and  our  own  hearts  than  most  Christians  are  at  home;  and  I  can 
but  think,  that  did  they  hear  less,  and  meditate,  pray  and  practise 
more,  it  would  be  for  their  souls  good,  and  for  the  interest  of 
Christ's  kingdom."  Yet,  in  his  deliberate  judgment,  there  were  so 
many  things  to  be  set  over  against  these  advantages,  that  a  year  or 
two  later  we  find  him  writing  to  a  friend:  "You  express  a  very 
common  and  I  think  a  very  erroneous  opinion,  that  the  missionary 
has  special  advantages  for  growth  in  grace,  and  peculiar  exemption 
from  temptations  to  sin.  In  my  last  sermon  in  Rochester,  from 
the  words,  'Pray  for  us,'  I  said  that  missionaries  are  peculiarly 
exposed  to  temptations,  and  therefore  have  peculiar  claims  upon 
the  prayers  of  Christians.  This  was  then  a  matter  of  opinion;  it 
is  now  one  of  experience  and  knowledge.     Pray  for  us." 

He  was  now  led  to  contemplate  one  of  his  severest  trials,  and 
because  it  is  a  subject  on  which  harsh  and  inconsiderate  judgments 
are  sometimes  uttered,  we  may  fitly  dwell  upon  it  a  moment.  In  his 
letter  of  September,  1840,  just  quoted,  he  alludes  to  the  fact  that 
one  or  two  of  the  missionaries  at  Maulmain  were  about  sending 
their  children  to  America.  "I  asked  Sarah,"  he  adds,  "if  she 
would  not  send  Lucy.  Her  eyes  instantly  filled  with  tears,  and  she 
soon  concluded  that  Lucy  could  not  go  yet.  Alas!  it  will  be  a  sad 
hour  when  we  part  with  our  children  to  send  them  to  America,  but 
I  see  no  way  to  avoid  it.     The  missionary's  life  is  one  of  sacrifice 


496  G.    S.   COMSTOCK. 

from  first  to  last,  and  could  tlie  enemies  of  missions  look  into  our 
hearts  at  times — but  I  forbear.  '  The  Lord  reigneth,  let  the  earth 
rejoice.'  Yes,  I  will  rejoice,  and  make  every  sacrifice  that  my 
blessed  Lord  requires.  At  least,  I  will  try  to  do  so."  About  a  year 
jjlater,  in  October,  1841,  he  writes:  "Our  children  are  making  very 
little  progress  in  acquiring  any  useful  knowledge,  but  are  learning 
much  that  we  are  very  sorry  to  have  them  learn.  Lucy  and  Oily 
must  go  to  America  next  year,  /  think.  We  do  not  know  yet, 
though,  how  they  will  go  or  where  they  will  live  when  they  get 

there.      Poor  things!  perhaps  they  will  feel   as  Lucy  M •  did 

when  she  said  to  her  mamma,  '  Other  little  girls  have  their  mothers, 
and  I  want  mine.'  However,  I  suppose  they  will  feel  much  less 
and  for  a  shorter  time  than  their  parents  do.  Yet  what  is  duty, 
must  be  done." 

The  sacrifice  was  made  the  following  year.  "0,  Saviour!  I  do 
this  for  Thee!"  was  the  exclamation  of  the  almost  heart-broken 
mother,  as  her  children  were  parted  from  her.  On  receiving  a 
sympathetic  response  from  friends  in  the  United  States,  Mr.  Corn- 
stock  wrote:  "Your  remarks  about  the  great  sacrifice  we  were  com- 
pelled to  make,  in  sending  our  darling  children  from  us,  at  their 
tender  age,  probably  never  to  meet  them  again  on  earth,  are  such 
as  one  would  suppose  every  kind  and  Christian  heart  would  sug- 
gest. Yet  we  sometimes  hear  of  very  difierent  and  most  unkind 
remarks  being  made  in  reference  to  this  subject.  We  have,  how- 
ever, done  our  duty,  trusting  in  God,  and  He  has  not  forsaken  us. 
I  hope  that  you  will  meet  our  dear  orphans  in  America,  but  how  or 
where  I  cannot  guess." 

In  the  same  communication  (February  1,  1843,)  he  records  his  con- 
victions as  to  the  good  effect  of  his  labours:  "I  can  plainly  see  that 
the  gospel  is  making  way  in  Arracan.  Yery  many  are  convinced 
of  the  folly  and  hopelessness  of  idolatry,  and  several  have  openly 
renounced  it.  The  ideas  of  an  eternal  God  and  of  Jesus  Christ  the 
Saviour  of  sinners,  are  becoming  common,  and  what  we  need  now 
to  turn  many  to  the  Lord,  is  a  copious  outpouring  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."  He  felt  keenly  and  expressed  warmly  the  want  of  addi- 
tional missionaries.  These  he  was  not  permitted  to  see,  and  Mr. 
Stilson,  who  had  been  associated  with  him  at  Eamree,  removing  to 
Maulmain,  he  was  left  nearly  alone.  His  sole  earthly  support  was 
shortly  withdrawn.  Mrs.  Comstock  died  on  the  28th  of  April,  after 
a  week's  illness.     She  had  been  a  most  efficient  helper  in  the  mis- 


G.   S.   COMSTOCK.  497 

sion.  Besides  her  arduous  labours  as  a  teacher,  her  domestic  cares 
and  the  instruction  of  her  children,  she  had  translated  a  "Scripture 
Catechism,"  and  written  "The  Mother's  Book,"  both  highly  useful 
Avorks;  she  administered  medicine  to  the  sick,  and  was  never  vvearj^ 
of  telling  to  the  natives  of  her  own  sex  the  way  of  salvation.  All 
felt  her  loss,  and  the  day  after  her  death,  men,  women  and  children 
crowded  to  the  house.  As  manj^  as  two  thousand  came  during  the 
day,  uttering  expressions  of  the  most  grateful  attachment  to  her 
and  of  sorrow  for  her  removal.  Many  called  to  mind  her  instruc- 
tions, which  affected  them  with  new  tenderness,  as  they  remembered 
tliat  those  loving  words  would  no  more  be  heard  from  her  lips.  In 
July,  her  two  children  had  followed  their  mother,  and  the  widowed 
husband  was  left  alone. 

In  a  review  of  these  events,  some  months  later,  Mr.  Comstock 
wrote:  "My  thoughts  have  been  a  good  deal  turned  to  Christ  as  a 
present  Saviour,  ever  living  to  intercede,  able  to  save  to  the  uttermost. 
I  therefore  went  directly  to  Him  for  support  and  comfort,  and  he 
granted  me  these  blessings  beyond  all  that  I  had  asked  or  thought. 
0,  the  abundance,  and  richness,  and  power  of  divine  grace !  God 
has  taught  me  more  of  his  loving  kindness  by  my  afflictions,  than 
I  had  ever  learned  or  conceived  amid  the  abundant  temporal  mer- 
cies that  have  heretofore  crowned  my  path."  lie  was  soon  admon- 
ished by  severe  sickness  that  his  own  time  was  short.  In  his  con- 
valescence he  says:  "Of  course  I  must  learn  to  suffer,  as  well  as 
to  labour  alone.  The  Lord  was  nigh  to  me,  and  I  felt  calm,  and 
quite  willing  that  he  should  do  with  me  whatever  was  most  for  his 
glory.  I  have  little  to  live  for  but  to  do  the  will  of  God,  and 
should  he  call  me  to  a  higher  and  purer  service,  I  would  not  tarry 
here.  It  seems,  however,  very  desirable  that  I  should  live  till  other 
missionaries  come  to  Arracan,  but  the  Lord  knows  best,  and  I  am 
quite  willing  to  leave  all  to  him." 

During  the  winter  his  health  seemed  to  rally,  and  increased  pros- 
perity in  his  work  nerved  him  to  fresh  exertion.  As  his  sun  went 
down,  an  unwonted  brilliancy  seemed  to  light  up  the  sky.  His 
last  letter  was  one  of  his  most  cheerful ;  several  persons  had  pro- 
fessed to  feel  a  personal  interest  in  the  truths  of  redemption,  and 
he  was  never  more  ready  to  give  his  utmost  endeavours  to  advance 
the  blessed  work.  But  the  last  enemy  was  soon  to  be  met.  He 
was  providentially  at  Akyab  when  seized  with  mortal  illness,  and 
thus  had  the  company  of  his  former  associate,  Mr.  Stilson,  to  soothe 
32 


498  G.    S.    COMSTOCK. 

his  last  moments.  His  disease  was  cholera.  Medical  aid  was  at  once 
procured,  and  the  disorder  was  checked ;  but  a  low  fever  ensued, 
which  proved  fatal.  The  day  before  his  death,  he  said:  "I  did 
desire  to  live  a  little  longer  to  labour  for  Grod.  I  hoped  to  return 
to  Ramree,  and  baptize  Pah  Tau  and  the  boys,  (a  Burman  copyist 
and  three  school-boys,)  but  if  the  Lord  has  no  more  for  me  to  do, 
I  can  cheerfully  leave  the  world  now.  I  have  no  earthly  cords  to 
bind  me  here.  My  trust  is  in  the  Lord.  He  who  has  been  with 
me  thus  far,  will  still  be  with  me  and  take  care  of  me.  I  have  no 
fear  to  die, — ray  faith  is  fixed  on  Jesus.  I  wish  you  to  state  dis- 
tinctly to  my-  friends  at  home,  that  I  have  never,  in  the  least, 
regretted  having  come  to  this  country."  This  was  his  final  testi- 
mony. He  soon  became  speechless,  but  retained  his  reason,  and 
his  countenance  beamed  with  the  serenity  of  Christian  patience  and 
undoubted  expectation  of  the  heavenly  rest.  His  soul  ascended  on 
the  25th  of  April,  1844,  to  be  reunited  with  his  loved  ones  so  lately 
departed,  in  that  state  of  perfect  holiness  for  which  he  had  long  panted. 

The  imperfect  outline  we  have  drawn  will  convey  some  partial 
impression  of  Comstock's  sterling,  manly  excellence,  his  elevated 
views,  unselfish  aims,  sturdy  strength,  and  unaffected  sensibility.  It 
will  suggest  something  at  least  of  his  religious  attainments,  which 
were  above  any  ordinary  standard.  But  there  are  many  whose 
personal  recollections  will  supply  traits  and  incidents,  the  memory 
of  which  must  awaken  a  painful  sense  of  the  inadequacy  of  this 
sketch  to  do  such  a  man  justice.  They  remember  his  first  entrance 
on  a  religious  life, — how  boldly  he  faced  about  in  his  career,  how 
meekly  he  bent  to  the  Saviour's  yoke,  and  how  light  he  seemed  to 
find  it.  They  call  to  mind  his  unceasing  activity  in  every  good  work, 
and  his  prompt  decision  to  consecrate  his  powers  and  acquisitions 
to  the  ministry  of  the  gospel.  His  determination  to  give  himself 
to  the  missionary  service,  expressed  and  carried  out  with  that 
calm  energy  which  neither  concealed  nor  vaunted  his  self-sacrifice, 
comes  freshly  to  their  minds.  They  once  more  see  his  tall  figure 
receding  in  the  distance,  and  yet  once  more  hear  the  heavy  tidings 
that  his  course  on  earth  and  their  present  communion  with  his 
spirit  are  ended. 

In  looking  at  his  missionary  career,  we  are  at  once  struck  by  the 
cheerfulness  with  which  he  entered  on  it.  At  an  early  period,  when 
the  conditions  of  such  a  work  were  imperfectly  understood,  it  is 


G.    S.   COMSTOCK.  499 

apparent  that  there  might  be  considerable  play  of  romantic  imagin- 
ation. But  besides  that  he  had  little  propensity  to  such  airy  spec- 
ulation, he  had  special  opportunities  to  know  those  facts  that  are  its 
sufficient  cure.  He  looked  on  the  enterprise,  throughout,  as  one 
appealing  only  to  his  sense  of  gratitude  and  duty ;  gratitude  to  his 
Kedeemer,  and  duty  to  the  souls  for  whom  He  died.  His  motives 
fully  appear  in  his  reply  to  one  who  ventured  the  inquiry,  not  long 
after  his  arrival  in  Arracan,  whether  he  was  sure  he  had  done  right 
in  becoming  an  exile  from  his  country.  "The  subject  of  labouring 
among  the  heathen  has  been  one  of  thought,  of  feeling  and  of  prayer 
ever  since  I  indulged  hope  in  Christ.  I  tried  to  look  at  it  in  all  its 
bearings.  I  thought  of  the  value  of  the  soul ;  and  seeing  thousands 
and  millions  doomed  to  'death,  ignorant  of  the  only  way  of  escape, 
how  could  I  refrain  from  asking,  What  can  be  done  for  their  salva- 
tion? The  first  answer  was,  They  must  hear  of  Christ;  for  how  can 
they  believe  on  him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard?  The  next  ques- 
tion was,  Who  shall  tell  them  of  the  Saviour?  They  are  daily 
passing  by  multitudes  beyond  the  reach  of  mercy.  What  is  done, 
must  be  done  quickly.  I  asked  myself,  Why  may  not  I  go  as  well  as 
another?  I  knew  there  were  severe  trials  in  the  missionary's  path, 
but  should  I  shrink  from  them,  when  Christ  had  promised  to  be  with 
me,  and  when  he  had  endured  so  much  for  me?  No,  I  could  not, 
and  therefore  freely  said.  Lord  here  am  I,  send  me.  You  see  some- 
thing of  the  way  the  Lord  led  me.  After  leaving  R.,  I  had  several 
opportunities  of  reconsidering  the  question  of  my  duty  to  the  hea- 
then. When  called  to  leave  my  only  brother,  my  native  village, 
and  all  the  friends  of  my  childhood  and  youth,  the  question  arose. 
Is  all  this  sacrifice  called  for?  I  could  not  doubt  it.  Again,  when 
standing  in  the  sanctuary  of  God  for  the  last  time  in  a  Christian 
land,  and  mingling  joyfully  with  the  saints,  I  thought  of  the  land 
where  are  no  sanctuaries,  no  saints ;  but  I  felt  not  the  least  hesitation 
as  to  duty.  When  embraced  by  weeping  parents  for  the  last  time, 
and  accepting  the  farewell  greetings  of  other  friends,  I  was  affected, 
but  faltered  not  the  least  in  my  purpose.  Since  then,  when  prostrated 
under  the  influence  of  distressing  sea-sickness;  when  sitting  in  the 
filthy  huts  of  the  natives;  when  enervated  by  a  tropical  climate; 
when  alone  in  my  little  bamboo  cottage,  and  thinking  of  the  heathen 
who  refused  proffered  mercy,  and  said  that  the  blessed  Jesus  was  an 
impostor,  I  have  had  opportunities  to  reconsider  my  decision,  but 
I  have  never  regretted  it."     Very  rarely  did  he  suffer  himself  to 


500  G.    S.    COM  STOCK. 

allude  in  this  manner  to  liis  self-denials.  Except  when  drawn  out 
by  questions  that  seemed  to  require  an  answer,  he  bound  himself 
to  silence  in  respect  to  them  all,  apparently  regarding  them  as  but 
"light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment." 

In  the  same  spirit  he  toiled  from  year  to  year,  without  any  token 
of  good,  his  energy  rising,  as  the  obstacles  to  success  were  more 
painfully  visible.  At  first  view,  it  would  seem  that  a  more  barren 
result  of  ten  years'  incessant  labour  could  scarcely  be  conceived.  At 
the  time  of  his  death,  the  church  at  Eamree  consisted  of  nine  mem- 
bers. Six  or  eight  others  were  candidates  for  baptism.  Thousands 
had  heard  the  gospel,  presented  with  the  utmost  skill  and  enforced 
by  the  most  fervid  and  tearful  eloquence.  Where  were  they?  But 
their  insensibility,  greatly  as  it  moved  his  compassion,  could  not 
shake  his  purpose,  for  it  was  founded  on  a  spirit  of  obedience  to 
Christ,  and  drew  from  His  promises  unfailing  strength.  So  he  went 
on,  scattering  the  good  seed,  and  leaving  its  increase  to  appear  at  the 
bidding  of  Him  who  alone  can  give  it,  and  at  the  time  when  his 
wisdom  and  grace  should  appoint.  Meanwhile,  he  so  laboured  that 
he  might  speak  to  the  future  as  well  as  the  present.  To  this  end,  he 
studied  very  thoroughly  the  character  of  the  people  to  whom  he 
was  sent — their  history,  their  modes  of  thought  and  of  faith.  The 
results  of  his  investigations  were  embodied,  in  part,  in  an  elaborate 
paper,  entitled  "Notes  on  Arakan,"  published  shortly  after  his  de- 
cease in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Oriental  Society.  His  tracts 
are  still  widely  circulated,  and  will  long  be  regarded  as  effective 
instruments  to  diffuse  the  knowledge  of  Christ  throughout  Burmah. 

His  faith  has  been  amply  confirmed.  The  words  he  spoke  did 
not  fall  fruitlessly  on  the  air.  The  seed  sown  in  tears  is  now  reaped 
in  joy.  In  every  part  of  the  field  he  traversed,  succeeding  mission- 
aries have  seen  first  the  blade,  then  the  ear.  He  expressed  the  con- 
fidence that  Boodhism  was  fatally  wounded  in  Arracan.  It  is  now 
testified  that  the  great  body  of  the  people  are  ripe  for  its  rejection. 
He  seemed  to  fear  at  times  that  his  preaching  was  of  no  effect  in 
drawing  men  to  the  cross,  but  they  are  now  coming  to  bow  before 
the  crucified  One,  and  they  confess  that  it  was  "  Teacher  Comstock  " 
whose  voice  first  woke  their  slumbering  souls  to  see  somethino-  of 
the  excellency  of  Christ.  Nor  these  alone.  Karens,  who  never  saw 
him,  have  been  overcome  by  the  truth  as  he  imprinted  it  on  the 
mute  page  to  instruct  the  eyes  of  the  heathen  when  his  own  should 
have  been  closed  in  death.     This  pleasing  testimony  has  been  lately 


G.   S.   COMSTOCK.  501 

communicated  to  the  public  by  Eev.  Mr,  Stevens  of  the  MaiJmain 
Mission.*  A  Burman,  afterwards  a  Boodhist  priest,  was  reading 
aloud  "The  Way  to  Heaven,"  one  of  Comstock's  tracts.  A  Karen 
chanced  to  hear  him,  and  begged  that  he  would  come  to  his  village 
and  read  those  words  to  his  neighbours.  He  did  so,  and  the  people 
flocked  together  to  listen.  They  wept  as  they  heard  of  the  Saviour's 
love.  They  urged  him  to  repeat  his  visit,  and  though  himself  uninter- 
ested in  the  theme,  this  idolatrous  Burman  went  from  village  to 
village  reading  the  tract  to  deeply  affected  hearers,  who  in  return 
loaded  him  with  gifts.  Thus,  being  dead,  the  devoted  missionary 
still  speaketh,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  angels  doubtless  rejoices 
over  repentant  sinners  whom  he  knew  not  on  earth,  but  who  will 
be  his  crown  in  the  day  when  God  shall  make  up  His  jewels. 

•  See  Missionary  Magazine  for  January,  1852. 


JAMES  RICHARDS. 


James  Eichards*  was  born  at  Abington,  Mass.,  February  23d, 
1784.  His  parents  removed  to  Plainfield,  in  the  same  state,  while 
he  was  very  young,  and  there  he  received  his  early  education.  He 
was  brought  up  in  the  fear  of  God,  and  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  during 
a  season  of  special  religious  interest,  was  led  to  a  cordial  subjection 
to  the  claims,  and  the  enjoyment  of  the  hopes,  of  the  gospel.  His 
admission  to  the  church,  however,  did  not  take  place  till  nearly  six 
years  from  that  time.  He  ardently  desired  to  prepare  for  the  Chris- 
tian ministry,  but  the  circumstances  of  the  family  did  not  permit 
him  to  be  released  from  labour  till  nearly  twenty  years  of  age.  He 
then  commenced  his  preparatory  studies,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
two  entered  Williams  College.  His  slender  means  required  him  to 
submit  to  many  privations,  which  he  bore  with  manly  and  Christian 
fortitude,  sustained  by  his  ardent  desire  to  be  useful  in  the  church 
and  in  the  world.  His  standing  as  a  scholar  was  good,  particularly 
in  the  mathematics,  but  his  highest  honour  as  a  member  of  college 
was  the  steady  consistency  with  which  he  discharged  the  duties  of 
his  religious  profession,  and  studied  to  promote  the  spiritual  inter- 
ests of  his  fellow-students. 

Among  his  most  intimate  associates  at  this  period  was  Samuel  J. 
Mills.  To  him  he  first  disclosed  his  desire  to  engage  in  a  mission  to 
the  heathen.  He  was  one  of  those  who  held  that  memorable  confer- 
ence in  the  meadow,  at  which  Mills  proposed  the  enterprise  which 
his  heart  had  long  cherished,  and  found,  with  delightful  surprise, 
that  his  auditors  were  already  in  sympathy  with  him.  At  what 
time  the  missionary  spirit  was  kindled  in  the  mind  of  Eichards,  or 

*  It  is  proper  to  state  that  arrangements  were  made  for  a  fuller  sketch  of  Mr. 
Richards,  and  one  more  worthy  of  his  character.  But  these  having  foiled,  at  a  period 
ti)o  late  to  secure  such  an  article  as  was  desired,  the  editor  yet  felt  that  the  work 
would  be  incomplete  without  something  more  than  a  passing  notice  of  such  a  man, 
and  this  brief  tribute  to  his  memory  was  therefore  compiled,  chiefly  from  the  Mis- 
sionary Herald. 


50-i  JAMES    RICHARDS. 

by  what  circunistances  it  first  gained  a  lodgment  there,  cannot  Ijc 
determined,  but  thenceforth  he  was  a  party  lo  those  secret  consulta- 
tions, prayers  and  efforts  that  called  into  being  the  first  general 
missionary  society  in  this  country.  In  1809  he  took  his  bachelor's 
degree  in  the  arts,  and  immediately  entered  the  Theological  Semi- 
nary at  Andover.  Here  he  was  active  in  diffusing  a  missionary 
spirit  among  his  associates,  and  when  it  was  decided  to  memorialize 
the  General  Association  on  the  subject,  his  name  was  subscribed  to 
the  paper  presented  to  that  body,  in  which  the  youthful  company 
gave  public  expression  to  their  long-cherished  wishes.  But  through 
fear  lest  so  many  applicants  might  be  unfavourably  received,  he 
withdrew  his  name,  and  deferred  to  others,  whose  seniority  in  the 
seminary  seemed  to  give  them  precedence.  He  yielded  to  none, 
however,  in  the  strength  of  his  resolution;  for  he  had  fully  deter- 
mined, should  no  other  avenue  to  the  heathen  world  present  itself, 
to  work  his  passage  to  some  pagan  land,  and  there  support  himself 
hj  his  own  toil.  "Let  me  never,"  was  his  language,  "consider  any- 
thing too  great  to  suffer,  or  anything  too  dear  to  part  with,  when 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  men  require  it." 

In  September,  1812,  he  finished  his  theological  studies,  and  v/a.s 
licensed  to  preach.  Having  been  accepted  by  the  Conniiittee  of  the 
American  Board  as  a  candidate  for  missionary  service,  he  spent 
nearly  two  years  in  Philadelphia,  studying  medicine,  then  considered 
an  essential  part  of  missionary  education.  There  he  frequently 
preached  to  destitute  congregations,  and  for  a  time  was  employed  as 
a  missionary  in  the  suburbs  of  the  cit}^  In  181-1,  war  with  Great 
Britain  making  it  impossible  for  the  Board  to  send  him  forth,  he 
was  engaged  in  preaching  to  a  congregation  that  greatly  desired  him 
to  remain  as  their  pastor,  but  his  heart  was  fixed  on  other  objects, 
and  he  declined  their  call.  He  w^as  ordained  on  the  21st  of  June, 
1815,  and  on  the  23d  of  October  following,  in  company  with  eight 
brethren  and  sisters,  appointed  to  the  same  field,  embarked  for  Ceylon. 
When  asked  how  he  could  refrain  from  weeping  at  his  separation 
from  friends  and  country,  he  replied,  "Why  should  I  have  wept?  I 
had  been  waiting  with  anxiety  almost  eight  years  for  an  opportunity 
to  go  and  preach  Christ  among  the  heathen.  I  had  often  wept  at 
the  long  delay.  But  the  day  on  which  I  bade  farewell  to  my  native 
land  was  the  happiest  day  of  my  life."  A  favourable  passage  of  five 
months  brought  them  to  Columbo.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  two  of 
the  crew  were  hopefully  converted  during  the  voyage. 


JAMES    RICHARDS.  505 

The  mission  to  Ceylon  was  commenced  in  consequence  of  the 
recommendation  of  Mr.  Newell,  who  found  a  refuge  here  for  a  tim^e 
when  the  British  authorities  were  hunting  him  and  his  colleagues 
from  the  contiuent  of  India.  Having  a  population  of  nearly  a  mil- 
lion, it  is  of  itself  a  missionary  field  of  no  small  importance,  but  the 
fact  that  the  Tamil  people  in  the  Jaffna  district,  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  in  number,  are  identical  in  race,  language  and 
religion  with  a  large  population  in  the  adjacent  parts  of  the  conti- 
nent, gave  it  a'  still  higher  claim  to  the  attention  of  the  Board.  It 
was  to  this  district  that  the  mission,  though  vested  with  some  discre- 
tionary powers  in  selecting  their  field,  were  particularly  directed. 
A  station  there,  it  was  believed  and  has  since  been -proved,  offered 
a  starting  point  of  operations  among  all  the  Tamil  people  of  India 
whenever  the  government  should  become  favourable  to  an  exten- 
sion of  their  efforts  in  continental  India.  The  Portuguese  had 
formerly  introduced  Romanism  into  Ceylon,  and  the  Dutch,  who 
succeeded  them  in  the  possession  of  the  island,  had  in  like  manner 
established  a  nominal  Protestantism.  It  was  easy  enough,  by  the 
free  exertion  of  government  patronage,  to  make  the  people  profess 
almost  any  desired  religion,  and  a  sort  of  Christians  became  very 
plentiful  for  a  time,  though  the  propagandists  had  no  great  reason 
to  be  proud  of  their  converts.  When  the  island  came  under  the 
English  dominion,  religious  freedom  was  proclaimed.  Forthwith 
heathen  temples,  which  had  been  pulled  down  by  the  Portuguese 
and  Dutch  authorities,  were  rebuilt,  idols  were  set  up,  and  the  peo- 
ple substituted  for  their  Ave  Mary's  or  the  forms  of  the  Helvetic 
Confession,  the  orgies  of  Hindooism  or  the  incantations  of  Bood- 
hism.  A  few  thousand  Roman  Catholics  remained  to  attest  the  work 
of  the  sixteenth  century  under  the  apostleship  of  Xavier. 

The  government  received  the  missionaries  favourably,  and  assigned 
them  stations  in  Jaffna,  at  Tillipally  and  Batticotta.  Mr.  Richards, 
who  was  assigned  to  Batticotta,  commenced  his  studies  at  Jaffnapa- 
tam,  where  a  temporary  residence  was  obtained  till  the  necessary 
buildings  should  be  in  readiness.  But  his  mission  was  a  troubled 
one,  and  his  purpose  of  preaching  to  the  heathen  failed  of  its  execu- 
tion in  a  great  measure.  He  was  incapacitated  from  study  by  an 
inflammation  of  the  eyes,  and  the  means  he  used  for  their  recovery 
proved  fatal  to  his  general  constitution.  Not  considering  the  debili- 
tating effect  of  a  tropical  climate,  he  reduced  his  system  so  low  as 
to  impair  his  strength  jDcrmanently,  and  is  sujDposed  to  have  thus 


506  JAMES    RICHARDS. 

laid  the  foundation  of  the  pulmonary  disease  wliich  subsequently 
ended  his  life.  His  studies  were  much  interrupted,  but  he  made 
himself  useful  to  the  mission  in  various  ways,  especially  by  his 
medical  knowledge.  He  also  preached  to  the  natives  occasionally 
through  an  interpreter.  These  efforts  were  suspended  in  the  autumn 
of  1817,  by  the  weakness  of  his  lungs  and  general  debility  that 
threatened  his  early  removal  from  earth.  A  visit  to  Columbo,  and 
a  short  residence  there,  .somewhat  relieved  him.  One  of  his  col- 
leagues, Mr.  Warren,  being  also  in  impaired  health,  the  two  sailed 
in  April,  1818,  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

Mr.  Warren  did  not  long  survive  the  voyage.  He  had  been 
associated  with  Richards,  ]\Iills  and  Hall  in  college,  had  united  with 
them  in  consecration  to  the  work  of  missions,  had  taken  a  dismis- 
sion to  Middlebury  College,  for  the  purpose  of  kindling  a  like 
flame  of  Christian  benevolence  in  that  institution,  and  the  two  had 
enjoj'ed  for  a  season  the  happiness  of  labouring  together  in  the 
wastes  of  heathenism.  It  seemed  that  they  were  not  to  be  long  sun- 
dered from  each  other.  For  although  during  the  first  three  mouths 
that  Mr.  Richards  remained  at  the  Cape  his  symptoms  improved, 
raising  some  hopes  of  final  recovery,  the  succeeding  month  saw  him 
reduced  so  low  by  hemorrhage,  that  he  entirely  lost  his  voice.  In 
the  latter  part  of  November  he  embarked  for  Madras,  and  thence 
proceeded  to  Columbo,  and  by  water  to  Jaflfnapatam.  His  journey 
by  land  to  Batticotta,  though  a  distance  of  only  seven  miles,  was 
performed  with  difficulty,  and  for  a  time  he  was  regarded  by  his 
brethren  and  by  himself  as  near  death.  But  in  August,  1819,  he 
began  to  regain  strength,  and  was  able  to  visit  the  mission  schools, 
to  inspect  the  studies  of  the  boys,  and  communicate  religious  instruc- 
tion by  means  of  an  interpreter. 

This  improvement  was  so  rapid  that  in  April,  1820,  he  had 
recovered  his  voice.  Frequent  exercise  on  horseback,  with  more 
nourishing  diet,  confirmed  the  healthful  tendency  that  had  been 
developed,  and  for  a  year  he  made  himself  highly  useful  to  the 
mission  by  his  counsels  and  active  labours.  His  diligence  and  fer- 
vour, indeed,  sometimes  exceeded  his  strength.  His  efforts  were 
checked  in  the  following  May  by  their  reaction  upon  his  weakness, 
increased  by  the  fatigues  of  medical  attendance,  which  devolved 
much  on  him.  But  though  his  active  exertions  in  the  cause  of 
Christ  were  plainly  drawing  to  a  close,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  that  the  work  was  advancing.     A  considerable  degree  of  sen* 


JAMES    EICHAKDS.  507 

sibilitj  to  the  claims  of  religion  was  manifested,  and  several  hopeful 
converts  were  added  to  the  church;  among  them  a  man  in  Mr.  Rich- 
ards' service,  and  six  pupils  in  the  girls'  boarding-school.  The  whole 
number  of  native  converts  in  church  fellowship  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1821,  was  fifteen,  and  others  were  inquiring, — a  small  number^ 
it  must  be  confessed,  but  considered  with  reference  to  the  character 
of  the  Hindoo  mind,  and  the  strength  of  those  influences  that  retard 
and  almost  forbid  the  progress  of  Christianity  among  such  a  people, 
it  was  a  result  full  of  hope. 

Mr.  Richards  continued  to  decline  till  the  twenty-ninth  of  June, 
1822,  when  he  was  visited  with  acute  sufferings  that  he  endured  till 
the  end,  not  only  with  patience,  but  with  expressions  of  gratitude. 
He  said  that  the  long  languor  of  his  slow  decay  had  affected  his 
mind  with  a  degree  of  depression  and  imbecility.  His  severe  bodily 
sufferings  roused  him  to  a  higher  degree  of  mental  activity.  He 
gained  clearer,  higher  and  more  consoling  views  of  the  divine  char- 
acter, with  an  increase  of  faith  and  more  earnest  desires  for  the 
supreme  glory  of  God.  Within  a  day  or  two  of  his  death,  more 
constant  and  more  acute  pain  cut  the  last  remaining  ties  which  bound 
him  to  earth,  and  he  was  greatly  desirous  to  be  gone.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  third  of  August  Dr.  Scudder  said  to  him,  "Well,  Brother 
Richards,  it  is  almost  over."  "Yes,  Brother  Scudder,"  he  answered, 
with  a  look  of  joyful  expectation,  "I  think  so, — I  hope  so.  0  Lord 
Jesus,  come  quickly !"  To  subsequent  intimation  that  he  might  sur- 
vive a  day  or  two  longer,  he  replied,  with  a  look  of  disappointment, 
"No — I  am  just  going."  He  revived  somewhat,  and  was  able  to 
speak  more  distinctly,  but  was  manifestly  near  his  end.  Calling  for 
his  only  son  James,  he  took  him  by  the  hand,  and  said:  "My  son, 
your  papa  is  dying.  He  will  very  soon  be  dead.  Thou,  my  son, 
remember  three  things:  Be  a  good  boy;  obey  your  mamma;  and 
love  Jesus  Christ.  Now  remember  these  my  son."  Soon  after,  he 
looked  around,  saying,  "Tell  Brother  Scudder — going" — and  was 
speechless.     In  a  few  moments  he  fell  asleep. 

Although  he  had  been  disabled  from  much  active  evangelical 
labour,  Mr.  Richards  was  valued  and  esteemed  by  his  brethren,  who 
regarded  his  loss  as  a  heavy  one.  As  a  companion  and  a  counsellor, 
his  affectionate  interest  in  all  that  concerned  his  associates,  whether 
personally  or  officially,  his  eminently  peaceable  spirit,  and  his  practi- 
cal wisdom,  which  was  strengthened  by  continual  communion  with 
Him  who  giveth  to  all  men  liberally,  according  to  the  measure  of 


508  JAMES    RICHAEDS. 

tlieir  faith,  made  his  presence  in  the  mission  a  benefit  much  in<iie 
than  proportioned  to  the  extent  of  his  labours.     His  rehgious  char- 
acter was  the  result  of  a  growth  begun  at  an  early  age,  and  cultivated 
with  the  most  assiduous  care.     "Watchful  and  jealous  of  himself, 
always  circumspect  and  humble,  he  had  an  abiding  confidence  in 
the  Divine  promises,  a  tender  and  reverent  regard  for  the  Divine 
glory,  an  ardent  desire  for  inward  conformity  to  the  Divine  image, 
that  were  not  only  uttered  with  the  most  convincing  sincerity,  but 
were  depicted  in  a  life  of  rare  consistency.     His  whole  heart  was  in 
the  mission.     Both  his  judgment  and  his  affections  were  more  than 
satisfied  with  his  calling.     He  said  that  he  considered  the  work  of  a 
faithful  missionary,  "who  is  engaged  in  actually  ^rmcAm^/  the  gospel 
among  the  heathen,  the  most  noble,  the  most  important,  and  the 
most  desirable  employment  on  earth."     And  his  greatest  affliction 
was,  that  he  could  not  be  thus  engaged.     "To  be  able,"  he  said,  "to 
do  little  or  nothing  in  a  field  so  ripe  for  the  harvest;  to  see  hundreds 
io-norant  of  the  way  of  salvation,  and  yet  unable  to  speak  to  them; 
to  spend  month  after  month  and  year  after  year,  in  taking  care  of 
myself  instead  of  preaching  to  the  heathen ;  has  caused  many  a  sigh 
and  many  a  groan.     But  I  hope  I  have  been  enabled  to  feel  that 
my  labours  are  of  little  consequence,  and  that  all  the  glorious  pre- 
dictions concerning  the  triumphs  of  the  cross  will  assuredly  be 
accomplished,  whether  I  live  longer  or  die  soon."     It  was  this  con- 
fidence in   the  promises  of  God   that  ever  buoyed  up  his  mind. 
Kothing  else  would  have  brought  him  to  Cejdon,  or  maintained  his 
serenity  of  mind  when  withheld  by  sickness  from  the  work  he  had 
so  longed  to  undertake.     For  though  there  was  much  in  the  sight 
of  the  converts  that  had  been  gathered  as  the  first-fruit  of  the  mis- 
sion to  inspire  hope,  he  knew  that  this  and  all  other  flattering 
appearances  might  deceive ;  that  dissensions  might  scatter  the  mis- 
sionary band,  and  temptations  beguile  the  men  whom   they  had 
c^athered  from  the  mass  of  heathenism  into  the  church  of  Christ. 

& 

But,  above  all  human  weakness,  and  beyond  all  earthly  mutations, 
his  eye  discerned  the  coming  triumphs  of  his  Lord,  assured  by  the 
WORD  OF  OUR  God,  which  shall  stand  for  ever. 


THE    END. 


Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


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